The Hunger Games: The Careers' Revenge
by UnofficiallyClove
Summary: Obviously, none of the careers won the 74th Hunger Games. But it seems as though the career tributes are not gone for good, and they are brought back together to avenge their deaths and save the capitol's reputation. Clove's POV.
1. Waking Up

The first thing I notice when I wake up is the horrible pain in my head. Then I notice the millions of tubes sticking out of me. What the? I try to sit up, but I get a major head rush and have to lie back down. What happened?

And then it all comes flooding back to me. The feast. I promised Cato that I would kill Katniss slowly and painfully if he let me have her….ugh, Katniss. And then that oaf from District 11 came and blamed me for killing that girl…and then what? I can't even remember.

I'm in a stark, white room. It's completely empty besides the uncomfortable bed I'm laying on, a table next to the bed, and a single white chair in the corner of the room.

I try to tear the tubes from my arm, but I feel a restricting hand on my shoulder. I whip my head around, automatically reaching inside of my jacket—but then I remember I don't have a jacket on, I have a hospital gown on. I have no knives. I am no longer in The Games.

I look up to see a familiar face. "Enobaria." I say, my voice hoarse. I'm guessing I've been out for a long time.

"About time you woke up." My mentor says.

"Where am I? What's going on?"

"Where do you think? A hospital, smarty pants." She turns around to glare at me full on, her deep grey eyes boring into mine. I can tell she's mad at me for what happened.

"I don't…." I trailed off, not really sure what to say. A hospital?

Then, the door to the room opens and a man in a white doctor coat walks in holding a clipboard. "Clove?" he asks, looking at me. I just blink. "How are you feeling?"

I see a few nurses walk past the open door before the doctor closes it again. I think about his question. How _am_ I feeling? Confused, angry. "Crappy." I decide.

The doctor chuckles. "I guess you want to know what's going on?"

"That would be nice."

Enobaria stands next to me with her arms folded, face in a disappointed glare, throughout the whole story. The doctor, who tells me his name is Dr. McDonald, explains that I got hit in the head with a rock. Well, that's kind of embarrassing. What a lame way to almost die. I can just picture the conversations in heaven: "Hey, how did you die?" "Oh, I got hit in the head with a rock." Lame. Now I know why Enobaria is so mad. Not only did I lose, but I lost to a rock.

Apparently the rock hit just at the right spot to avoid being fatal. So when my cannon went off, announcing to the world that I was dead, they took me up in the hovercraft and took me straight to the hospital. This is the part where I'm really confused. Dr. McDonald tells me that sometimes they bring a tribute back to life, but mostly only the careers. I find this impossible—all of these people clearly died. All the people I killed—that was real. Real knives, real blood. I just don't get it.

Now they tell me that I've been brought back to life, and it sounds like a stupid plot to a soap opera or something. It's just impossible. I don't want to listen anymore, I just want to continue on in the dark, but Dr. McDonald has a way of talking that just pulls you in. I almost wanted to hear him talk more, so I let him.

He says that the capital has a special medicine—it's a very involved process, and they use it mostly on the career tributes. But what about my friends that have gotten killed in the Games? Why haven't I seen them alive? Because no one can know. No one can know that the Games are kind of…fake. Even though they're real. This is so confusing, and it's making my brain hurt.

"So, I _did_ die?" I ask, trying to make sense of things.

"Yes, but—" Dr. McDonald is about to go into another explanation when Enobaria interrupts.

"Yes, you died, Clove. You _failed_. I can't believe you! I was _so_ sure you would win! You are the most talented tribute I've trained by_ far_! AND THEN YOU GET HIT BY A FRICKEN ROCK!" Enobaria screams at me.

I recoil at the harshness of her tone. "It wasn't—"

"I don't wanna hear your crap, Clove. You should've been more careful." Then she stomps out of the room, slamming the door so hard that the tubes coming out of my arm shake. Dr. McDonald sighs. I close my eyes, wishing I could go back in time. I didn't want to let Enobaria down, and I definitely didn't want her to think that I was a failure.

After a minute, Dr. McDonald says he has to make sure everything is working correctly, because, well, I died. He has to make sure my spinal cord is in tact, so I have to bend over a bunch of times, and then I have to walk on my toes from one side of the room and back, and a bunch of other pointless stuff. He uses his hands a lot while he talks, and I can't help but notice he has pretty big hands.

After my tests are over, they move me out of the "Special Room" that I was in and into a regular one. There were two beds in here, separated by a thin blue curtain, but the other bed was empty. They tell me to stay in bed, but I ignore them and once they leave I get up and walk out of my room.

I wander the halls aimlessly, opening doors that I'm probably not supposed to open. I find myself in what looks like a kitchen a few minutes later. I'm not very hungry, so I just get one of the super-good capitol frappucinos. As I walk out the kitchen door, ready to continue my journey, I hear a familiar voice that almost makes me choke on my coffee. "Clove?"

I turn around and see who spoke my name. She looks the same; her light blond ringlets falling to her elbows, her big green eyes bright with curiosity.

"Glimmer?" I ask, smiling a little. Her face breaks into a grin, and then she runs forward and hugs me. I just stand there for a moment, but then hug her back.

"Oh, Clove! I can't believe it! Can you believe it? You're alive!" she exclaims, like we've been best friends forever. "We watched the rest of the Games here, you know! I woke up the day before the feast. When you died, Clove, I cried. I cried and cried, because I felt so bad for you, but then I realized they would probably bring you back to life, too!" She jumps once excitedly, her grin impossibly wide. "Oh, I'm so happy you're awake!" a wave of worry washes over her features, then. "Have you…have you seen Cato?" she asks quietly.

I frown. I kind of forgot about Cato. He obviously made it farther than me; but did he die? "No." I said, shaking my head. "Did he…die?"

Glimmer looks as if she's going to cry. "Yes. He made it all the way until the last three. Him, Katniss, and Peeta. And then they were on the cornucopia, and I thought he would win because he had Peeta kind of hostage, and then Katniss shot him and—"

"Wait." I say. "Katniss and Peeta made it to the end?" I hate them! District twelve never wins! It's useless! Glimmer nods. I can't believe Katniss shot Cato. That bastard. It's not like I was best buds with Cato or anything, but when you spend weeks in the Hunger Games together, you definitely bond. Suddenly, I want to see him. "So, what? Katniss killed him?"

Glimmer purses her lips, looking like she's trying not to cry. I sigh, wondering how she ever survived in the Games. But then I remembered—she didn't. Haha. Oh, well. "I…I'll see you later, Clove. I'm gonna go take a nap…I'm kind of tired. My room is on the sixth floor, if you need me…." she looked past me then, and I turned around to see Marvel. He gave me a crooked smile and a half-wave, and I narrowed my eyes at him, but then waved back. Marvel and I weren't exactly best friends in the arena. He took Glimmer's hand and they walked away.

Now I'm wondering. How did Cato die? Is he here? I feel like I want to look for him. I might as well. I decide to start on the floor that my "Special Room" was on. When I get up there, there's a door that needs the swipe of an access pass to open. Someone will come along with one of those sometime, right? I lean against the wall and wait. After a few minutes, a nurse comes up. She opens her mouth to say something, probably to tell me to get to bed, but I punch her with as much force as I can muster, which is enough because she falls to the ground, unconscious. Wonderous. I open a maintenance closet and sort of kick her into it. No one needs to know about this.

I slide her card through the thing and walk quietly through the empty, plain hallways. There are different sections, and the main hallway branches off. I follow the one that has a big red "2" on it, figuring this must mean District 2.

Sure enough, I see the room I was in, and a door identical to mine a few feet away. I go over to it and hesitate with my hand on the handle, but then I turn it and go in.

I almost throw up. Really. I don't know if it's because it's so horrible, or disturbing, or if I'm just shocked. Cato is lying on the hospital bed, and he's horribly scratched up. It looks as if they literally had to sew his body parts together, it's that bad. He has huge gashes all over, and one of his hands is missing. I cover my mouth with my hand. Since I woke up with no scars whatsoever, I'm guessing Cato still has a lot of time before he wakes up. I cross over to the room and lightly touch his hand. His eyes flutter open, and I jump back, shocked. I hadn't expected him to wake up.

He stares at me with a look of pure terror on his face. "Clove." He says shakily. I stare at him, and I can tell my expression looks a little scared, too. Then he groans. "Stop! It won't stop!"

I'm thinking twice about my decision to come in here. "W-what won't stop?"

"Make it stop, Clove!" he begs me, and then he reaches forward with the one hand he has left and grips my arm so tight it cuts off the circulation.

"Ow! Cato, let go!"

"Kill me! Please!" he cries. I'm so horrified I don't know what to do. I'm thinking I actually might kill him, because he sounds _so _miserable. "Now! Kill me!" I'm thinking he might not be mentally stable. Not yet. "Clove!" He keeps yelling my name now, and I'm trying desperately to shush him. But it doesn't work, and Dr. McDonald bursts through the door, followed by a few nurses.

"Get out of here." Dr. McDonald says, the kind tone of voice he used gone, all business. He rushes towards Cato's side, and they shoot something into him and he slowly falls back asleep. A nurse grips me by the arm and leads me back through the halls to my room. I casually drop the nurse's access card along the way.

The nurse shoves me into my room and slams the door shut. I sit down on my bed, defeated. I stare into space, not bothering to get rid of the horrified expression on my face, as I go through the terrible events that happened in the last few minutes. However Cato died, it must have been much worse than my death.

I don't even notice Enobaria in the chair in the corner until she speaks. "Where were you?" I don't even turn to her, but she walks over and grips my face so that I'm forced to look at her. "Where. The hell. _Were _you?" she asks me again.

I push her away. "Go away, Enobaria."

"Don't tell me to go away." She says. "Don't you ever listen, Clove?"

I think about how I left my room without permission, knocked out a nurse, and snuck into the intensive care floors. I shake my head. "No."

Enobaria sighs, but her expression softens a little bit. "You remind me of myself, when I was your age, Clove."

"Is that good?"

"Maybe." Enobaria says. "But I got into lots of trouble, too. Just…just watch what you do, Clove."

She's about to leave when I stop her. "Enobaria?"

"Yes?" she turns around.

"How…how did Cato die?"

Enobaria frowns, and looks almost sorry. "He…he was tough." She said tightly. "He stuck through it." I just look at her, waiting for her to continue. She sighs and sits on the bed beside mine, and explains to me how Cato died. I listen through the whole thing. He was chewed to smithereens, beaten to a pulp, tortured. From afternoon to morning, until Katniss finally shot him. That must've been what he was talking about.

When she's finished, she looks worried about me. "Clove? Are you okay?"

I nod numbly, even though I'm really not. Enobaria gets up and leaves then, leaving me alone.

What is going on?


	2. Reunited

**Hi. **** just to make things clear, this story is after the first book (obviously), but then it skips right to Mockingjay, but my own spin of it kind of. So pretend Catching Fire never happened. I don't know why I did it that way…I just kind of did. But oh well. Thanks for your reviews! **

Well, I've been banished to the basement.

Two days ago, not long after Enobaria left my room, I had still been pondering the Cato incident when Dr. McDonald barged into my room, which I did not appreciate at all, by the way. His face was red with rage and he looked stressed. Two pudgy men in white suits followed behind him, they looked like peacekeepers. He took a deep breath before he spoke. "Clove." He said, and even though he wasn't yelling, it was even worse. I'd prefer if he'd screamed at me. "You know you were _not_ supposed to be on the intensive care floors. Cato is undergoing a very important and tricky operation, and we need him to stay sedated for this to work. You don't want him to die, do you?"

Does it make me a bad person that I had to think about that for a minute? Let's put it this way, Cato isn't always exactly a bucket o' sunshine. But I guess I'd rather have him alive than dead. So I shook my head.

"Then you need to stay in your room until you are allowed out of it. You're still not fully healed, Clove." He was about to say something else when a nurse bustled in, looking worried.

"Doctor? We need you on the IC floor."

Dr. McDonald looked nervous then. "Why?"

"We just found Silva in the closet?" she said it like a question. "Her head is cracked open. We don't know how long she's been there."

"What…?" Dr. McDonald looked flustered.

Oh, crap. I totally forgot about the nurse. I mean…what nurse? That's horrible news. I tried to look horrified, but I guess it didn't come off as I meant it to, because Dr. McDonald finally lost his composure.

"You did this, Clove?"

"I…well, um…maybe."

The doctor's face flooded with anger. "You know what? I never should have agreed to do this. Take her away." He said, and then marched out of the room with the nurse. The peacekeepers walked towards me and gripped my wrists tightly. I kicked and fought and wiggled, trying to get out of their steel holds on me. Eventually, one of them pulled out a pair of handcuffs, cuffed my hands behind my back, and literally pushed me along the hallways. I almost fell down the stairs how many times.

We went down to the basement levels, A.K.A the crazy ward, where the floors are grey concrete and the walls are made of old white brick. They slid open a white door and then pushed me into it and I fell onto my knees. Um, ow. Are they not forgetting that I'm not fully healed? I got up quickly and tried to hold open the door, but they slammed it closed and I heard their stupid, ugly boots marching down the hallway.

I stood there breathing heavily for a few minutes, and then I kicked the door hard. "SHIT!" I screamed. I turned around so that my back was against the door and slowly slid down to the cold concrete floor.

And here I am now.

I look around. The room is completely empty, but it's big. The walls are blank and white. The gray floors slant slightly down to the middle where there's a drain. I don't even want to know what it's for.

I rest my head against the door. I've only been in here a few minutes, but it's insanely boring. My wrists hurt. They could've at least taken the handcuffs off. All of a sudden, a voice came over an invisible speaker.

"Hello. You will be in here until someone bails you out or your trial is over. Thank you." A pleasant voice says, and then there's nothing.

Well that's just dandy. First of all, they made it sound like I'm in jail. How long is my "trial?" No one even told me. It's not like anyone would bail me out. Enobaria hates me. She's probably laughing right now. I hate this place. I wish they would've just let me stay dead.

I decide to occupy myself by trying to pick my handcuffs. If only I had a knife….I fall asleep soon, thankfully, but I have a horrible dream.

I'm back in the games, but it feels different. I'm at the cornucopia. It's freezing cold, and snow is falling. I can see Katniss in the distance, and I run towards her, but my knives just go right through her. I finally reach her, but just as I'm about to stab her she turns into a bird. It's like the birds that were all over the arena. She flies away, and then she's human again. But whenever I get close to catching her, she turns into the stupid bird, laughing at me.

I'm jerked from my dream because I fall backward and hit my head on the concrete floor. I open my eyes to find the door I had been leaning against was opened, and now I'm laying half inside and half outside of the room. Above me, I see the very familiar taunting smirk. I lift my head off of his boots and spring up. "Brutus!" I shriek, my mood instantly lifting.

Brutus smiles. "Hey, Rockie."

I scowl at him good-naturedly and he laughs. Brutus was definitely my favorite mentor. He's always joking around, like me, so we got along easily.

"So, only four days after you wake up and your already in jail? Wow. That's a record."

"It's not _jail_. It's where the crazies go. And I've only been awake three days, thank you very much."

"Oh, well excuse me." Brutus smirks. He unlocks my handcuffs and I rub my wrists, and then I notice something. On my right arm there's a big, purple bruise. And it's in the shape of a hand, like someone grabbed my arm. And then I realize, it must have been from Cato. I didn't notice the mark until now. "What's that?" Brutus asks, noticing.

"It's….from Cato." I mumble.

Brutus nods. "Seems like Cato to give you a nice welcome back present like that. Now come on, let's go."

He leads me back through the halls and up all of the stairs. "How come you weren't here earlier?" I ask.

Brutus's face is serious. "I was busy. But I'm here now, right?"

"Right. But what—"

"Okay then. Shut up and go get some food."

I realize we're at the food court then. Even though I haven't eaten for a long time, I'm not very hungry. I just go over to the water machine when someone speaks behind me. "Hey, Crazy."

I turn around and scowl at Marvel, who is smiling like an idiot. "Shut up, Marvel."

"So, did you really crack that nurse's head open?"

I take a long sip of my water before I answer him. "Don't worry about it."

He shrugs. "Whatever."

Glimmer comes skipping into the room then, and she gives Marvel a kiss and I have to turn away in disgust. Then Glimmer notices me. Her big eyes get bigger and she grabs my wrists, which are still sore, but her hands are tiny and it doesn't really hurt much more than it already does, so I don't bother to say anything. "Clove! Were you really in…" she looks around cautiously, like she'll be killed—again—if someone hears her. "the crazy room?" she whispers, leaning a little closer to me as she says it.

I roll my eyes. "Everyone already knows, Glimmer."

"Oh! Okay." She says, returning to her annoyingly happy self again. "So…why? I mean, Marvel told me that you broke open a nurse's head, but I didn't think you did it. But then I remembered that you probably would, so…did you?"

I sigh. "Yes."

"But why?"

"Because…" I shake my head and tell her the same thing I told Marvel. "Don't worry about it." I lift my hand to brush my hair out of my eyes and Glimmer gasps.

"What happened to your arm, Clove? Did they hurt you?"

I quickly put my arm behind my back. "Nothing. I'm fine."

Glimmer frowns, but doesn't say anything else about it. "Well anyway…what was it like in there?" she asks me after a few seconds go by.

"Incredibly boring. But I slept most of the time, so it wasn't horrible…"

Glimmer raises an eyebrow. "You slept for five days?"

I almost choke on my water. "_Five_ days?" I couldn't have slept for five days straight. There's no way I was in there that long.

Glimmer nods, looking at me like I'm crazy. Well, I guess you're counted as crazy if you spend a week in the crazy ward. "You were in there for five days, Clove."

"But…how?"

"They probably sedated you while you were sleeping or something." Marvel says. God, every time I hear his voice, it just makes me want to…kill someone. I still don't forgive him for almost killing me during the Games. Well, _trying_ to. It's not like he ever could. I look at him, holding Glimmer's hand peacefully, and wonder what exactly made him turn in the arena. Maybe I didn't exactly try to be nice to him, but I wasn't really nice to anybody. He's just a baby.

"I guess…" I mumble.

Another silent minute goes by, and Glimmer is the one to break the silence again. "I wonder when they'll have that meeting they were telling us about." She chirped.

"Meeting?" Why does no one tell me these things?

"Yeah, they said when all of us woke up, we were going to have a meeting in—"

"Cato's up?"

"Yeah, he woke up last night."

I'm curious as to what Cato will be like. I hope he has both hands, because if he only has one I'm never looking at him again. That's just disgusting.

Sure enough, a peacekeeper walks in right then. I can't really tell if it's a boy or a girl, but it's burly and ugly. "You three. Follow me." it says. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's a girl. That's disturbing.

She leads us through hallways and to an elevator, where we go really deep underground, even deeper than the crazy level. The doors open, revealing a long hallway with black marble floors and clean, black walls with doors all along the walls. She leads us along the hallway and then around the corner, where there a fewer doors that are even more spaced out. She stops abruptly at a door almost at the end of the hallway, and I almost run into her. She slides a key through the door and gestures for us to go in, so we do. Glimmer's emerald green eyes are wide with worry, and she's gripping Marvel's hand tightly.

The room is dark and kind of small, with dim lighting and the same dark flooring and walls that goes throughout the halls. There are two peacekeepers in the back corner of the room, and the she-male that brought us here goes to join them. There is long black table in the middle of the room with chairs around it.

At the head of the table is a man who I've never seen before. He's dark skinned and very muscular, and he has a shaved head. To his right sit Brutus, Enobaria, and a lady I don't know. She looks like she's in her thirties, and she has long, silver-blond hair and striking sapphire blue eyes. I recognize her as Averil Kempley, the District 2 victor about fourteen years ago. To the man's left is Gloss and Cashmere, Glimmer and Marvel's mentors, and then two other victors who I don't remember the names of. And then, beside one of the victors, is Cato.

He looks completely normal, one hundred percent different than the crazy, scared boy I saw just a week ago. His scars are gone, and (THANK GOD) he has both hands. He's completely whole and healthy again, but he looks kind of tired.

Everyone is talking kind of casually, and when Cato notices us he gets up, and looks shocked when he sees me. He stand there for a moment, and then hugs me. I stand there, confused, but then I hug him back.

"You're alive." He breaths.

"Um…yeah." I say, stepping away and looking at him. His blond hair is messed up a little and hanging in his eyes. We grew pretty close in the arena, I guess, but like in a best friends sort of way. Before the Games, I had talked to him here or there, but that's it.

"What were you thinking, leaving me to deal with District 12 all by myself?" He asks playfully, grinning.

"Obviously, you didn't really deal with them, since you died." I joked.

He smiles and laughs a little. "Whatever. Come sit."

We go over and I sit next to Averil and Cato sits on my other side, and Glimmer and Marvel sit across from us.

The big man at the head of the table clears his throat and then speaks. "For those of you who don't know, I'm Landon." his voice is strong and clear, and everyone instantly silences. "Now, as most of you have probably seen on the news, the rebel forces are growing stronger." I glance at Cato, glad to see he looks just as confused as I am. Rebel forces? I haven't really had much time to watch TV.

Landon looks at us. "And if you haven't seen, the rebel forces are being led by Katniss Everdeen, along with several other victors."

He gets up then and presses a button on a remote, and a holographic map of the districts pops up in the middle of the table. He touches District 13 and it zooms in. It shows amazing detail of the land, even though it's all in blue. "Here," Landon says, circling his hand around a patch of flat ground, "is where they are located. We have strict orders from the capitol, as you all know, to attack the Rebels. Katniss Everdeen as agreed to be the Mockingjay, and they are preparing for war any time now." He then presses another button, and the map morphs into a picture of Katniss's face. Then she starts talking—it's a video. But it looks like it's just the last clip of it.

"—you think for one second the Capitol will treat us fairly if there's a cease-fire, you're deluding yourself." Katniss is saying. Seeing her face and hearing her voice—it brings back such bad memories, and I wish I could kill her right there. "_This_ is what they do! And we must fight back!" she continues desperately, extending her arms to the mess of fire and rubble around her. I recognize it as District 8, I've seen it on the Victory Tours.

The screen goes black. First of all, I've been dead this whole time, so I have no idea what's going on. It's quickly explained to me how Katniss and her pathetic little friends have started a rebellion, and they have a small army that's growing bigger. This is why we were brought back. The capitol needs help. President Snow ordered that this procedure take place—apparently the career tributes from this year's Hunger Games are the most powerful they have seen in a while, and they wanted us back. The doctor lied, there has never been a tribute brought back to life before. Ever.

"So, Victors and Tributes." Landon says, his voice full of determination, "I have gathered you here today on behalf of the capitol, hoping that you will fight with us. The rebel forces must be put down. They must be destroyed."

It takes a moment for this to sink in. Slowly, a smile spreads across my face as I realize what has just happened. I look over to Cato, who I know will be the only person enjoying this just as much as I am. Sure enough, he's smiling, too.

We, the tributes of the 74th Hunger Games, have been brought back to life to achieve what we were all dying to do while in the arena, but never got the chance. To do something that we wanted more than anything. To avenge our own deaths.

To kill Katniss Everdeen.


	3. Suspicions

The next day, we started training. I feel a little weaker since I died; I get headaches very often, caused by everything. Every time I throw a knife, my head pounds. Doctor McDonald said that it would stop over the next few weeks. I hope so.

Training is, for the most part, boring. We just shoot at dummies and moving dummies. It's too easy. The highlight of my day today was probably when we had agility lessons (I guess you could call it that). We had to climb trees, and I was Glimmer's partner. I don't have a problem getting up, besides my headache coming back at full force, but Glimmer…well. Glimmer is Glimmer, and Glimmer plus trees equals disaster.

"How do you get to that one?" she calls up to me from several branches below, pointing to the branch above her head.

"You pull yourself up, Glimmer."

"But…how? I can't put my foot on anything."

I sigh, and I notice the trainer does, too. "You have to pull yourself _up_. With your arms. Like a pull up."

"Oh." She looks stunned by the idea. "Okay."

After that she struggled to climb up, but it was funny watching her get down. She hung over the bottom branch for how many minutes, not sure how to lower herself. The trainer, whose name is Xavier, eventually had to come help her down.

"I think we'll try this one again tomorrow, Glimmer." He says with a smile before walking away.

Glimmer frowns. "I…we don't have very many trees in District One."

I laugh. "Yeah, okay."

"We don't!"

So, that was all. I learned to use a gun, and I'm pretty good at it, but I still prefer my knives. I don't really get to do much of anything anymore, because when I'm not training I'm getting some kind of treatment done or I'm sleeping. But I'm not complaining. I'm sure it'll all be worth it.

By the end of the week, I'm exhausted. So I go back to my room—which is normal, by the way, not a hospital room—and turn the TV on to see if there's anything good. But what do I see? Some sort of montage of Katniss. Ugh. I hate just looking at her dumb face. There's cheesy, heroic music playing in the background. I wish she knew that we were back. She wouldn't think she was such a hero then, would she?

There's a knock on my door, and then Glimmer comes in. She stands and watches the rest of the Katniss thing, not saying anything till it's over.

"We'll get her." she promises me.

I just nod. We better. The TV changes to a picture of Peeta, then.

And he's in the capital.

"What!" Glimmer's emerald eyes widen as she looks at Peeta, who is sitting next to Ceaser Flickerman. He looks like he's going crazy. He's all jumpy, and there are bags under his eyes.

"Why is he here?" I ask, even though I know Glimmer won't know the answer.

"Why didn't anyone tell us?" Glimmer asks.

We watch the rest of the interview. Lover Boy is saying how Katniss is being foolish and that everyone should call a cease-fire. I look over to Glimmer and she looks mad, just like I probably do. We don't say anything. After the interview is over, the normal television returns, and some weird reality show comes on. Glimmer turns to face me on the couch. Then she points to the ceiling. I look up.

"No!" she says, and shakes her fist, gesturing for me to do the same. Confused, I point to the ceiling, too. Then Glimmer says, "Kill Katniss!" and she hits my finger with hers on both sides and goes, "Clink, Clink!"

I burst out laughing. "What?"

"It can be like our handshake or something!" she grins.

I laugh again. "Okay, whatever."

She smiles and then walks out of my room. About an hour later I'm almost asleep when my least favorite nurse, who is also a trainer, walks in. She's a little on the tubby side, and she has super thin blond hair. Also, she seriously needs some self-confidence.

"What, Travie?" I ask. I don't even know her first name—everyone just calls her by her last name.

She takes her blond hair on her hand and moves it to one shoulder, twisting it around her finger. "Um, Cato told me to get you."

I sit up. "Why?"

"Um…" she shifts her hair to the other side. "Wull, I don't really know. But I think you should probably go over there."

I sigh and get up. Travie's doughy face is twisted with worry. "_Relax_. God." I shake my head and walk out of the room, leaving Travie behind.

I have to take the elevator to get to Cato's room, because he's still in a hospital room. His door is open. The room is dark, with only the light from the television flickering across the room. I step inside.

"So, T-Bone actually did something right." Cato smiles when I enter. I smile. She hates when we call her T-Bone, she says it's stupid. Whatever. Stupid names for stupid people.

"What did you need me for?" I say, sitting at the foot of his bed.

"Did you see Lover Boy?" he asks after a minute.

"…Yeah. What about him?"

Cato frowns, deep in thought. "Why do you think they never told us about him?"

I shrug. "Maybe they thought we already knew."

"I doubt it." Cato scowls.

I sigh. "So is that it?"

"No." he says.

Then I hear footsteps behind me, and I turn around. Glimmer and Marvel walk in, hand in hand.

"Travis got you, too?" I ask.

Glimmer removes her hand from Marvel's and moves her long blond curls to the side, tugging at them. "Wull, um, she said that we probably shouldn't be up so late because, wull, it's like past our curfew…" she says in her best impersonation of Travie. I laugh.

"Okay. So, what's the big meeting for, Cato?" I ask, looking at him.

Cato sits up a little more. "Does anyone here seem…weird to you?" he asks.

Marvel snorts. "Weird? It's the capitol, Cato."

"No, I mean, like…suspicious."

I shake my head. "I think you're going crazy."

Cato just shrugs. "Maybe. But I don't know...sometimes I feel like we're kept too much in the dark. Like they're keeping something from us."

"They probably are." Glimmer says blandly. "What are we going to do about it?"

"Nothing." Marvel says firmly. "Because if we show any form of rebellion, we'll be dead again in a second."

"I'm not saying we _rebel_, idiot. I'm saying we ask for answers, that's all."

I sigh. "Okay, Cato, I get what you're saying, but this was hardly worth a secret meeting. I'm pretty damn tired, so I think I'm gonna leave. You can come to a decision without me if you want, I don't really care."

"Shockingly, I'm gonna go with Clove on this one." Marvel says, putting his arm around Glimmer and turning to walk out the door.

"Goodnight!" Glimmer calls cheerfully over her shoulder. I'm about to follow when Cato grabs my arm. I turn to look at him, and even though Glimmer and Marvel are gone, he whispers.

"Clove…I don't think it's just the doctors keeping something from us. I think Glimmer and Marvel know something that we don't." he whispers.

I shake my head. "That's ridiculous, Cato." Why would they know something that we don't? We're the stronger tributes—people. We're not tributes anymore. Right?

"I know, but it just feels…weird when I'm training with Marvel. He doesn't like to talk about what's going on much. Just strategy plans and stuff."

I glare at him. "Isn't that what you always do in training?"

He thinks for a minute. "Well, yeah, but whenever I bring up Katniss or Peeta he just goes quiet."

I shake my head again. "Well, if anything, Marvel is the only one getting extra information, because Glimmer isn't acting weird at all. I'm pretty sure it would be hard for her to keep such a big secret like that. Don't you?"

He shrugs. "I guess."

"CLOVE!" I jump up as my name is screeched out and Cato releases my arm. Crap. It's about two hours after curfew, and here I am. And that's the voice of the most grotesque person in this hospital. I know there are a lot, but trust me. This lady is mean, and ugly, and she has no eyebrows. I'm pretty sure she wears the same outfit every day, too. It's yet another one of my least favorite nurses, Mergen. I turn around slowly and see her slightly hunch-backed figure hunkering in Cato's doorway. "What are you doing? Do you have any idea what time it is?"

I scowl at her. "I'm leaving, I'm leaving!"

"You better be!" she hisses, and remains in the doorway.

"Goodnight." Cato says.

"Don't die in your sleep." I answer. He laughs a little.

"Hurry it up, Miss Clove!" She spits at me. I purposely slow my pace, and she shakes her head at me, her features twisting in anger. I raise my eyebrows in an oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it? Look.

She sighs and follows me all the way back to my room. When I get there I slam the door right in her face, before she can even finish her, "Miss Clove!"

I head straight to my bed and collapse onto my back, so tired I can barley keep my eyes open. But there's one thought that's keeping me from falling asleep—Are they hiding something?


	4. Excited

**Since I forgot to put it in my last chapter, the last chapter was dedicated to my teacher, Miss Travis—who will hopefully NOT be reading this! :D **

**Sorry this chapter is sort of random, but I kind of had some writers constipation, so I just wrote whatever came to mind. **

**

* * *

**

This morning, even after all the stupid crap I went through last night, I was dragged out of bed much to early for my liking by Glimmer. Her long blond ringlets are tangled and she has dark circles under her eyes. She looks very disheveled. She coughs once and says, "I'm sick."

So she dragged me to the doctor appointment because she wasn't sure what they were going to say or she was scared or something. I was still have asleep. But anyway, now I'm sitting in the uncomfortable chair in the doctor's office, and Marvel is in the one across the room, sipping a bottle of water, and Cashmere is leaning up against the wall next to the table, looking irritated. Glimmer is perched on top of the table, and it looks as if she's going to fall over from the effort of just sitting up. She's _really _sick.

"Alright." Glimmer's doctor marches in the room, pulling a pen out of his shirt pocket. "What seems to be the problem, Glimmer?" Glimmer lists to him everything that hurts and blah blah blah, and I'm trying hard not to fall asleep. Why was I brought here?

The doctor sticks some kind of thing down Glimmer's throat, making her gag. He then explains this is to test if she has the flu. We all sit calmly in the room while we wait for the doctor to come back with the results, and I try to ignore Cashmere's burning stare that I can feel from across the room. I tuck my knees up to my chin and the knife I keep in my pocket clatters to the chair, sounding amplified in the quiet room.

"You're not supposed to carry weapons." Cashmere accuses, narrowing her eyes at me.

I shrug. "Whoops." I smirk at her.

She just shakes her head and mumbles something about District Two, and then she goes quiet again. Thankfully, the doctor comes in, holding a white thing that looks like a thermometer in his hands.

"Does she have it?" Cashmere asks anxiously.

The doctor crosses over to her. "Tell me, Cashmere, what do these two lines mean on another test we take?"

Cashmere frowns for a moment, and then gets it. "Pregnant?"

Water spews from Marvel's mouth and he starts coughing and choking.

I raise my eyebrows at Glimmer, but she just widens her eyes and shakes her head.

The doctor laughs. "Yes, or more simply, positive. You can all relax. Yes, Glimmer has the flu."

Marvel breathes a sigh of relief.

The doctor chuckles again and then gives Glimmer some medicine, and then says what she shouldn't do and all that jazz. After that we all get up and walk out. Cashmere tells Glimmer to go straight to her room and relax, and then she struts off in the other direction.

"No offense, Glim, but why did I have to come to this?" I ask her as we walk down the hallway.

Glimmer looks genuinely hurt. "For moral support." She practically whines.

"Okay! I'm sorry. I was just wondering."

Marvel stays silent, because I think he's still a little thrown off by the whole pregnant thing. When we reach my room, I tell Glimmer I'm going to try to go back to sleep since we don't have training or anything today, and when she goes to give me a hug I have to decline her as politely as possible. The doctor said since we've been…resurrected, I guess, our immune systems will be weaker. I had a weak immune system to begin with, so no thanks.

I close the door to my room and then I feel someone behind me. A hand clamps over my mouth and I reach for my knife. I'm about to slice the hand when the person removes it from my mouth.

"Woah! It's just me!" Cato says, holding up his hands.

I sigh. "You scared me! Good thing you moved, I probably would've killed you."

Cato smiles. "Probably."

"Why are you here?" Seriously, why does everyone just assume they can come into my room?

"I need you to come with me." he says, suddenly serious.

"What for?"

"You'll see."

I stay planted where I am, and I know he can tell I'm not going anywhere until he tells me where. "Okay." He sighs. "You know how I told you I thought Marvel knew something?" I nod. "Well, I talked to him this morning—"

"This morning?" I interrupt, looking at the clock. It's 7 am right now. "How early do you people get up?"

Cato shakes his head. "That's not the point, Clove. Anyway, I talked to him, and Marvel _did_ know something." Cato grins. "So I was right."

I roll my eyes. "Okay, whatever. So where are we going?"

"To meet with Brutus and Enobaria. They're gonna fill us in on everything we're missing out on."

I groan, but follow him down the hallway. I've been good at avoiding Enobaria lately, and now I'm gonna have to _voluntarily _see her. This is just dandy.

We go down a few flights of stairs, and my head starts pounding. Stair climbing is one of the many things that triggers my headache. Eventually we're on the same floor that we had our first meeting in. This time, though, we go into one of the doors that's towards the beginning of the hallway.

When we enter, I see Enobaria sitting in a red leather chair in the corner, her legs and arms crossed, glaring right at my face. I glare straight back. Brutus is talking to some guy in the opposite corner of the room, but the guy gets up and leaves when he sees us.

"Sit." Brutus gestures to the two open chairs. Cato sits in one and I'm about to sit in the other when Enobaria kicks it out of the way.

"You can stand, Clove." She smirks.

I narrow my eyes at her and my hand goes toward the knife in my pocket, but I know I can't use it because they'll just take it away and I'll probably land myself back in the loony bin, so I just shake my head at her and bring the chair back over, then sit.

"Enobaria, that's not a happy face, is it?" Brutus teases.

"You wanna see a happy face?" Enobaria gets up, but then sits back down and continues pouting.

"So. What's crackin'?" Brutus asks, rubbing his big hands together.

"Brutus, please just tell us what's going on."

"We don't have to tell you anything." Enobaria spits.

I sigh deeply, along with Brutus. "I _will_ tell you. Enobaria, quit being such a pessimist." Enobaria rolls her eyes, but Brutus ignores her. "Alright." Brutus says. "You've probably seen Peeta on the news?" Cato and I both nod. "And figured out that he's here in the capitol?" We nod again. "Well, they've been torturing him, and they wanted to bring you guys in to see him."

"See him? What for?"

Brutus shrugs. "A form of torture, I guess. It'll be like his worst nightmare coming true. The best form of torture there is." He grins. "We were going to have it be a surprise. They have some other tributes there too, but we don't know if you'll be seeing them."

I can hardly stop the grin from coming onto my face, even though Enobaria is glaring at me full force. "When do we go?"

"Tomorrow, actually."

I'm super happy now. This just made my day! "So, basically, you're bringing us to Lover Boy so we can torture him?" Cato asks.

Brutus nods. "Yup."

I'm practically bouncing out of my seat. "This is awesome!"

Cato high fives me, and Brutus laughs and tells us we can go. I'm in such a good mood that on our way out I turn around, stick my tongue out, and show Enobaria my beautiful middle finger. And I don't even care that I'll probably get beaten for it later.

"It's nice to see you not wanting to kill someone for once." Cato says as we walk up the stairs.

"Oh, I still want to kill someone. I'm just extra happy." I smile.

Cato laughs. We run into Travie on the way back to our rooms, and she smiles. "What's so funny?" she asks, stroking through her hair nervously.

"Don't worry about it." I say dismissively, but I still have a smile on my face.

I guess that since I'm not threatening her, she actually thinks I care about what she has to say, so she starts talking.

"H-hey, did you guys ever notice that my hair looks white instead of blond?"

I turn to scowl at her. "Uh, no."

"Oh, well it is sometimes, because since my hair is so thin it gets greasy at the end of the day so I have to put baby powder in it to soak up the grease, and sometimes it doesn't blend in."

Me and Cato look at each other for a second, and then burst out laughing.

"Wh-what?" Travie asks, an apprehensive smile on her pudgy face.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" I say, and then we walk away. Travie's…strange.

When I pass by Glimmer's room, she comes out, followed by Marvel, who is carrying an empty soup bowl. Glimmer still looks like crap.

"I thought you were banished to your room?" I ask her.

"Well, Xavier is leaving today and I wanted to say bye." She says sheepishly. Marvel rolls his eyes. I know that Glimmer had the hots for Xavier, one of our trainers.

"I saw him walking out the door a minute ago." Cato says. "You better hurry."

Glimmer's green eyes widen and she all of a sudden sprints straight for the stairs. Marvel rolls his eyes again and sighs, then walks off toward the kitchen. I decide to follow Glimmer. I catch up with her at the hospital doors, where Xavier is just getting into his car.

"Well, are you gonna say bye or not?" I say, elbowing her. "B-bye Xavier." She says quietly. "BYE XAVIER!" she yells out with a laugh. Xavier looks stunned, but then turns around and smiles and waves, and then he gets in his car and drives away.

Glimmer sighs. "He's adorable."

I shrug. "I guess."

Then she looks sad. "Do you think they'll let me come to see Peeta tomorrow? I'm still sick."

"Who cares? You can sneak out."

Glimmer looks horrified by the idea.

"But won't I get in trouble? I shouldn't."

I sigh, wondering yet again how she possibly competed in the Hunger Games. "You're coming, Glimmer. And if I have to kill Cashmere to make you, I'll do it."

You know, that doesn't sound like a bad idea.

* * *

**Ok hi! I just wanted to say, a lot of things in my story are based off of real life things that have happened to me, and I had a lot in this particular chapter, so I figured why not list them?**

**Travie is my teacher, Miss Travis. And she actually told us the story about the baby powder. **

**Glimmer is based off of my friend, Allison. And she has an obsession with Xavier Samuel (the twilight guy) so I wrote him in here for her. Your welcome Allison! Her username is UnofficiallyGlimmer, and she's the one who leaves the crappy reviews on all my chapters. xD but go read her stories! And anyway, the doctor's appointment actually happened, but it was Allison's brother, mom, and me instead of Cashmere, Marvel, and Clove, and they were testing her for strep throat, but it was funny all the same. ****and also, when we were driving away there was a boy named Chris who was leaving our school that day, and we saw him outside so Allison rolled down her window and said real quietly, "B-bye Chris." And then she yelled, "BYE CHRIS!" and chris gave her a weird look and then waved. :D**

**Hmm…I think that's all for now. Sorry if this note was boring and lame, but thanks for reading it if ya did. **

**Pffft, Clove.**

**xD;**


	5. Torturing Bread Boy

**Hi everyone! Well, I was originally not going to write until I finished reading my book, because it's an **_**amazing**_** book, but I left it at my friend's house, and so my life is ruined. :,( poor me. But I guess you got lucky, because I had nothing to do but write. **

I'm so excited that I can hardly sit still.

We're on our way to the building Peeta is staying in.

My legs are bouncing up and down and I'm so excited I could just bounce out of my seat.

"Clove."

I look over to the seat next to me. Cato is giving me a weird look. "What?" I ask.

"You're a little…hyperactive. Chill."

I roll my eyes. "Chill." I mimic.

We're in a hovercraft, and even though it's early in the morning, I can't even complain. I haven't been in such a good mood since…well, ever. Glimmer and Marvel are sitting across the isle from us, and Glimmer's head is resting on Marvel's shoulder. She's trying to get her sleep in, she still feels sick. I couldn't even sleep if I tried.

There is only one thing dampening my mood. We had to take a nurse with us, and guess who was chosen.

"Um, can I have a salad? But without the meat, because I'm a vegetarian. Wull, unless it's turkey, because I eat turkey sometimes. Nevermind, just don't put the meat."

Travie. I can hear her voice all the way from up here. She's such a pig she can't even go, like, five minutes without eating. Jorey morey.

Enobaria also came along, but she's actually not being too unpleasant. She hasn't said one foul word to me all morning, and we've been within 5 feet of each other the whole morning. It's a miracle.

Some guy in a gross blue uniform comes out and tells us that it'll be about five minutes until we land on the building. I jump up, unable to sit anymore.

"Aren't you supposed to have your seatbelt on?" Travie asks. I turn around.

"Yes."

"Then why don't you have yours on? You could get hurt."

I clear my throat. "Well, actually, think about it. If this hovercraft were to be hit or something went wrong with it, and we're sent spiraling towards the ground, what good is a crappy little seatbelt gonna do for me? Is it gonna save me from the flames? No. It would probably break anyway. All this seatbelt would do is prevent me from the little chance I have of escaping this hellhole. So, wearing seatbelts in airborne vehicles is more dangerous than not."

There. That shut her up. She actually looks a little scared. I realize everyone is staring at me. I shrug in a way of saying, "Well, that's just how it is," and I sit back down, satisfied. Seconds later, I hear the small _click_ of a seatbelt being unbuckled. I smirk to myself. I'm pretty sure Travie would kill herself if I told her to.

Cato chuckles. "Nice."

I shrug again. "I speak the truth."

Moments later we land on top of a big building in the middle of a grouping of smaller buildings. We all climb out, except Travie. She's staying here. "Uh, be careful!" she says as they're closing the door. No one acknowledges her.

They have two of the guards come to escort us. I'm right on their heels, eager to get to Lover Boy. If only they had Katniss…oh well, soon enough.

We go through a long series of winding hallways and staircases, and my head hurts so bad I feel like I'm going to faint, but I stick it out and tell myself it'll all be worth it. It takes us about ten minutes or more to get to the floor where the tributes they captured are being held. The halls have the quality of an unfinished basement, which I've never liked. Dirty cement floors, walls, and ceilings, with only plain light bulbs swinging here or there from the ceiling, casting an eerie glow throughout the place. We finally come to a metal door. The guard takes out a ring of keys and places various keys in different holes while we listen to the locks un-click. I'm guessing this floor is very old, because most locks today have touch-screen pads that you have to type a code into or something, but all these doors have plain old key locks.

"It has been requested that District Two go in last." The guard speaks in a deep voice before opening the door.

"I don't want to go in." Glimmer shakes her head.

Marvel sighs. "Come on, Glim. Why not?"

"I just…I don't want to."

"Are you sure? Because you won't get another chance." Marvel presses.

"I'm _sure_, Marvel." She says.

Marvel sighs again. "Okay. Your loss." The guard opens the door for him and Marvel steps in, disappearing.

We stand awkwardly in the hallway for a few seconds. I'm pretty sure that door is soundproof, you can't hear anything from inside.

"Cato? Clove?" a familiar voice rings out from a ways behind us.

I look and Cato with widened eyes, and he also has a horrified expression on his face. We slowly turn around.

"Cato! Clove!" our stylist comes rushing toward us, hugging us. I stand there, grimacing. Glimmer looks uncomfortable.

"…Ezra." Cato nods politely.

"How have you two _been_? Oh come on, I'll show you something! Oh!" he looks to Enobaria. "Berry!" he hugs Enobaria and she stands stiffly, a look of disgust on her face. "Could I borrow these two for a quick moment?"

Enobaria looks at the guard, who shrugs.

"I…I guess." Enobaria says.

I glare at her. She could've said no. But I probably would've done the same thing if I were in her situation; anything to get out of quality time with Ezra.

Ezra was our stylist for the games. Every contestant for the past ten games has had him, and all have hated him. He's just plain annoying, and his designs stink on ice.

We're dragged through the hallway to one floor up by Ezra, who doesn't shut up the whole time. "What are the odds? No one told me you were coming today! Oh it's all horrible, the war, isn't it? Those awful rebels…" and on and on.

What he shows us, though, is actually interesting.

"This," he says, bringing us in front of a large, clear window, "is the 'Torture Room'."

Inside of the room, there's a large, empty tank with a girl in it. At a table a few feet away sit two Capitol professionals. The girl is standing, but her wrists are in chains that attach to the floor. She's dripping wet.

I recognize the girl as Johanna Mason, a tribute in the games a few years back.

One of the capitol men is talking to her with a mean expression on his face. I can't make out what he's saying, but it looks like he's questioning her. Johanna looks defeated, scared. She was so tough in the games….

All of a sudden two pipes above the tank open up and water spews out of them. The tank starts filling up, the water gushing down and splashing onto Johanna. She's squirming now, screaming something at the men. The water is going up, up, and soon is over her head. She thrashes and screams, trying to get a breath of air.

I watch with great interest. I wonder what they're doing to Lover Boy if they're doing this to a girl who barely had anything to do with the war.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Ezra says. I had forgotten he was there. I look to Cato, who has a faint smile playing across his face.

"Yeah…" he murmurs.

"Well, I should probably get you two back. Come on, come on." He says, pulling us away as the water starts to drain again.

When we get back to the room Peeta's staying in, Ezra says goodbye to us and "Berry." I should start calling her that.

Marvel walks out of the room moments after we come back, grinning. "That was awesome." He says.

The guard motions for us to go in. I can't keep the smile off of my face as I saunter through the door. "Heeey, Lover Boy!" I call a greeting.

Peeta is sitting against the wall on top of a pathetic-looking cot that has holes all over it. His knees are tucked up to his chin. He's a little bloody, his hair messed up, and his eyes to seem quite focused. There's another cot on the opposite side of the small, grotesque room.

Cato goes over and punches Peeta in the shoulder, as if they were best buds, but with a little too much force. "How's it goin?"

Peeta keeps his head down. "This can't be happening." He whispers into his arms, starting to rock back and forth. "It's not really them, they're dead. They're dead." He refuses to look at us.

I cross over to him and place my hands on either side of his head, yanking it so that he looks up at us. His eyes are closed. I hold his head against the wall with one hand, open an eyelid with the other.

I grin as the eye widens when he sees me.

"Surprise!"

He lets out a whimper. "You're dead! You're not real!"

I frown, crossing my arms over my chest. "That's a little insulting. We are _very_ much alive."

Peeta lowers his legs. "No. You're dead." He spits. "Because you two _idiots _were too dim-witted to stay alive. And _I_ won."

I raise my eyebrows, and Cato's arm comes in front of my face. He grips Peeta's neck, smashing his head against the wall.

"Listen, Lover Boy." He snarls. "We're twenty times smarter than you and your stupid girlfriend. You're from District _Twelve_, the crappiest, dumbest district in all of Panem. So If I were you, I would shut my fuckin' mouth."

I get right in his face. "Besides, if you're so smart, why are you rotting away in this place?"

Peeta looks frustrated. "I…I…I…."

"Shut up, Stuttering Stanley_._" I smile evilly and shake my head. "They're going to kill you, and we're going to kill you're pathetic little girlfriend, who thinks she's fricken superwoman."

A wave of horror washes over his face. "They didn't get Katniss, did they? Oh, Katniss…" tears well up in his eyes.

Cato tightens his grip on Peeta's neck, making him gasp and claw at his hand, trying to remove it from his throat. "Quit crying." Cato spits.

"This is why you didn't win, Lover Boy. Not really." I say, stepping back so I can look at him head on. "You're a baby. You're _weak._ Spineless. If it weren't for your shitty girlfriend, you would be _dead._" I draw a finger across my throat, like a knife. "D-E-A-D, dead. You can't do anything for yourself. And you never will be able to." I smile. "And that's why you're going to die."

Cato releases his hold on Peeta and he gasps for air.

Peeta closes his eyes, chokes back his tears. "How are you…how are you alive?"

"Don't worry about it." I say dismissively.

There's a knock on the door, and then the guard's face pops in. "Time's up."

Cato holds out his fist and I punch it. Before we leave, I reach out and knock Peeta upside the head, just for old time's sake.

"Have fun?" Enobaria smiles.

"Oh yeah."

Now I can't wait to kill Katniss. One down, one to go.


	6. New Fighters

**Hey guys…not sure if this is my best chapter, but I'm running kind of short on ideas at the moment, so if you have any, please give them to me! I'll gladly mention your name if you give me something and I use it. ;)**

They want us to go to school.

Yes. School.

Well, not actually _school_ school, but they want someone to teach us so we don't "fall behind." Who even cares? We all would be finished with school within two or three years anyway.

"Count me out." I had said before standing up from the table.

"Clove." Doctor McDonald warned. "I expect you to be where you're told to be tomorrow morning. Alright?"

I stared at him blankly before turning around and marching out of the room.

"This sucks." Cato had said when he caught up to me. I didn't answer, just went into my room and went to sleep.

And so right now it's 8:05. I was supposed to be in the "Learning Room" five minutes ago. But instead, I'm laying in bed. I don't want to go for many reasons: one, I hated school before I went into the Games, and I didn't die and come back to life to sit at a desk and learn stupid stuff that we'll never use in real life. Two, Travie is the teacher. And three…well, it's called the Learning Room. I mean come _on_.

So I'm laying in bed flipping through the channels when the door to my room opens and Enobaria walks in. She stops short when she sees me. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"…Probably."

Enobaria just shrugs and plops herself down on the chair next to the pullout bed, then fixes her eyes on the TV. I stare at her.

"What?" she asks.

"Well…why are you here?"

"I don't know."

"Well…we don't exactly…hang out. And don't you hate me?"

Enobaria sighs and turns to look at me. "Look, Clove, I realized that it was an honest mistake. If that asshole hadn't come, you and Cato would have won for sure."

"I would've had to kill Cato anyway. But you're probably right."

Enobaria smiles evilly. Wait—nevermind, that's just her regular smile. "Come on." She says, standing up.

"Where are we going?" I ask, standing up too.

"I'm breaking you out of this place for a day. I'm sick of this fricking hospital. It smells like old people."

I grab my knife out from under my pillow and Enobaria rolls her eyes.

"What?"

"Don't be so paranoid."

"I'm not _paranoid._" I spit. "I always have a knife with me."

Enobaria smiles with her teeth now, exposing her fangs. Although I'd never tell her for fear of being killed (again), I think it's kinda weird that she has fangs. It's all a little too vampire-ish to me.

She grabs my wrist and tugs me out of the room, then lets go and gestures for me to follow, so I do. We walk cautiously, but run into no one in the hallway. It's pretty empty. But then there's the guards at the door we have to think about.

"They'll never let me past there, even with you." I say as we hover just around the corner.

Enobaria sighs. "Well, we _could_ cause a distraction…" she peeks around the corner, and a shield of dark hair blocks her face from my view. But when she looks at me again, she's smiling. "There's only one."

She walks tip toes over to the guard, a plump, balding man, and just as he turns his head Enobaria punches him straight in the face and the guard falls out of his chair, onto the floor. He's knocked out.

"Nice." I congratulate.

"Thanks. Come on, someone must have seen it on a camera. We have to get out of here quick."

We sprint out the doors and Enobaria jumps into some random jeep that's in the parking lot, then presses a button and it starts.

"It's the hospital's," she explains. "But I'm sure you wouldn't mind if we stole something, anyway." She adds with a smirk.

"You're right."

We drive for about five minutes until I realize I don't know where we're going. So I ask her.

She just shrugs. "I don't know. Walk around a little."

"Aren't I not supposed to be seen?" the doctors strictly told me not to show my face in public, they were even mad when they heard that Ezra saw us.

Enobaria frowns, then reaches into the pocket in the side of the door and pulls out a pair of huge sunglasses. She throws them at me, and I observe them.

"_Really_?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

Enobaria keeps her eyes on the road. "Do you want to get killed?"

"Eh…."

"Shut up. Just wear the fricken glasses."

I roll my eyes but slip them on. We arrive where we're supposed to be about twenty minutes later. It's a small town square it looks like, with a bunch of tall, old buildings.

"What are we doing here?" I ask as we park next to the curb. The sun is already starting to set.

"I used to come to this place a while ago, and I've been wanting to get some stuff I kept there. It's totally empty now. I figured, why not take you with me?"

I shrug. "Okay."

We walk into a narrow, super tall building. All the windows are boarded up; it's hard to see. Our footsteps echo on the cement floor. It didn't look like this building was ever finished. The walls, too, are cement, with dirt smeared on them. I walk toward the staircase. Enobaria is tracing her fingers along the walls, as if looking for a door. "I'm going up here." I tell her.

"Knock yourself out." She calls from across the room. I begin up the narrow staircase fearlessly; even though it's all but pitch black in this building. I go up another flight of stairs, each level seeming darker than the next. I think I hear a sound, but I quickly dismiss it. It's probably just Enobaria downstairs. I grope around for the next staircase and I'm wondering why I came up here in the first place when I feel a presence behind me.

I reach to my pocket slowly, but I should've been quicker. I'm grabbed from behind, my arms pulled behind my back, a hand over my mouth. A beam of light appears on the floor; my assailant has a flashlight.

I stay still for a second, acting like I'm going to cooperate, but of course I'm not. The body behind me isn't too much bigger than me, definitely not an adult, but it's a boy. When he's raising the flashlight to my face I see a wall to my right. I use as much force as I can and I slam back into the wall, so that the boy would hit it. The flashlight falls to the floor, making an echoing _crack_ noise and sending beams of light dancing all over the floor.

He's surprised and he releases me, just as I had hoped he would. In one swift motion I take the knife out of my pocket and pick up the flashlight, then shine it on his face.

The boy looks my age, maybe a year older but not likely. He's skinny, but muscular. He has shaggy, chestnut brown hair that hangs into his matching brown eyes. He squints into the light and I stand there, regaining my breath for a second. I hold the knife in the path of the light so he knows not to make any moves.

"Who are you?" I finally say. He doesn't answer. I step forward, since he's still against the wall, and hold my knife to his throat. "Who. Are. You?"

"I'll answer if you let me see your face."

Huh. Smart one. I realize he probably can't see my face because of the light. I hesitate, but then hold the flashlight so it's above us like a lamp, faintly illuminating my face, but not so much that he'd recognize me. I keep the knife in front of me. Good thing I had the sense to take those ridiculous sunglasses off—that wouldn't do much to help my case. He surveys me.

"That's a nice knife." He says, gesturing to the knife in my hand.

I don't comment. It is a nice knife, one I never got to use. I had gotten this knife as a gift from a sponsor shortly before I had died. It's one of the nicest out there.

"You saw my face." I say, ignoring him. "Now what's your name?"

"Remington." The boy says, straightening up. I notice he's about a head taller than me.

"Remington." I repeat to myself. "What are you doing here, Remington?"

"You could call me Remy." He says before continuing. "I…are you…" he lowers his voice a little. "Are you part of the rebel group?"

I study him intently. Is he a rebel? "Are there rebels in here?" I ask, lowering my voice to match Remy's. Answering a question with a question—good strategy.

Remy shakes his head. "No. Well, just my sister and I. But…we're not really sure what side we're on."

Now I'm unsure what I should do. Kill him on the spot? He said he wasn't sure. If I call for Enobaria, will he run away? I'm deciding what to do when a knife flies past my head and sticks itself into the wall, right next to Remy's face. I turn my head slightly and Enobaria walks up.

"Rebel?" Enobaria asks me without taking her eyes off of Remington.

"He…says he might not be."

"You can't trust them, Clove."

"Clove?" Remington's face flickers as he registers what he just heard. "Wait…I know why I recognize you. You were just in the Hunger Games. With Katniss Everdeen. But…you're dead."

I roll my eyes. It's aaaalways about Katniss.

"Are you a rebel or not, kid?" Enobaria snarls. I can tell she's trying to get the topic away from this new discovery. "You know what, it doesn't matter. He's seen you, Clove. It's either we kill him, or he comes with us." She looks to me as if for approval. I shrug, showing her I don't care. Enobaria pulls the knife out of the wall and smiles at Remy evilly, showing her fangs. Remy gasps. Enobaria brings the knife back, and then—

"Wait!" a girl's voice comes out from behind us. We both turn around.

A girl who looks about twelve is standing there, looking nervous. She has long, light brown ringlets that fall down her back and bangs that need to be trimmed. She has eyes identical to Remington's, and the same features. Enobaria lowers the knife. "Oh, great. Who's this? How many are here?"

"This is my sister." Remington says.

The girl walks forward hesitantly, stops. "I—" all of a sudden she begins to sob. "Please don't kill him, he's all I have!" The girl falls to her knees.

Enobaria and I exchange looks, unsure what to do. It's not like either one of us are good with sympathy. "Um…"

"Wait." Remington says. "You said 'we kill him, or he goes with us'. Where are you going?"

Enobaria sighs. "We work for the capitol. Are you on our side?"

"We just…we don't know what to do." Remington says quietly after a minute, looking at his sister who has now stopped crying and is just sitting on the floor looking miserable. "We don't really prefer a side…"

Enobaria steps back and observes Remington, and then her eyes drift to the girl on the floor. "Well if you're on our side, you live. Got it?"

I hit her arm. "I thought you said we couldn't trust them. What if it _is_ a trap?"

"I have a gift with sensing traps. And these kids are _not_ lying." She looks to Remy. "You look like a good fighter. Pretty strong. Where ya from?"

"District Four."

Enobaria turns to me and shrugs. "Hey, why not?" she turns to the girl then. "I don't know about her, though."

"Please, let her come too!" Remy speaks up. "She's…she's stronger than she looks. The pity thing just works for her."

The girl stands up and I realize that she doesn't look sad anymore, but angry.

Enobaria sighs. "You guys lucked out. If I was still in a bad mood, you would've been dead a long time ago." She grabs Remington roughly and tugs him along, taking the flashlight from me so she can see. "You realize," she says as she walks, "you two will be working for the capitol. And there's no going back. If you join the rebels, you will be killed."

She stops walking and turns to Remy and his sister. I'm walking in back of them, knife held out just in case they try to run.

Remy and his sister nod.

"Good." Enobaria turns on her heel and we walk out of the building carefully, trying not to be seen. It's dark out, now. I sit in the back with Remy, knife still at the ready, just in case, and the girl sits up front with Enobaria.

"What's your name?" Enobaria asks the girl as she starts driving.

"Annabella." The girl answers, using her dirty fingers to comb through her curls.

"I'm thinking," Enobaria says, "that we could stick them into a room in IC until we can trust them fully. Send them to training and crap. They could be useful."

I nod. "I'm thinking," I say, "that we'll be in a crapload of trouble for skipping school, knocking out a guard, stealing one of the hospital's jeeps, and bringing back to runaways that are not yet fully trustworthy."

Remy gives me a weird look, but Enobaria just laughs.

"I'm thinking that you're right."


	7. Cato's Jealous

**SHOUTOUT TIME! :D**

**I'd like to thank junbug24 and Hahukum Konn for reviewing consistently on every single chapter. Thank you so much guys, it really means a lot to me! **

**Oh ya…and…UnofficiallyGlimmer, I guess. **

**Well anyway, please enjoy the chapter! :D**

I got in a _crapload_ of trouble the second I stepped through the hospital doors.

So this is what happened. When we got back with Remy and Annabella, we were stampeded the moment we walked into the doors and guns were held to Annabella and Remy's heads.

"I thought you said it was safe here," Remy had whispered to me.

"It is." Enobaria said, stepping up to the guards and pushing their guns away. "They're with us. They're fine, they want to help."

One guard looked at her warily before mumbling, "Alright." Then he prodded her in the back with his gun as a gesture for her to start walking, but Enobaria slapped the gun out of his hands and it clattered to the floor.

"You have no right to touch me." She spat at him.

The other guard chuckled, but Enobaria silenced him with a glare. We all followed the guards down the familiar hallways. We didn't even get to a certain room before Doctor McDonald and Landon stopped us in the hallway.

"Where the hell have you been?" Landon thundered. This was the first time I had seen him since that first meeting. Trust me, he's a lot more intimidating when he's mad.

But Enobaria kept her expression unfazed. "I got you some more fighters." She said, tilting her head towards Remy and Annabella.

Landon's dark eyes shifted from Enobaria to the people behind us. He slowly circled the siblings, looking at them as if they were a horse he were interested in buying. Then he crouched down to their eye level, stared each of them in the face. Annabella looked a little scared, but Remy's face remained void of emotion.

"Huh." He said. "Not bad." He turned back to us. "But that doesn't mean you two had the right to just run off! You know, if you two weren't a pair of my strongest fighters, I would—" a loud beeping sounded from Landon's communicuff then, and he looked at the screen briefly and frowned at it. "I have to go." He mumbled. "Francis, I'll leave you in charge of their punishment." He said to Doctor McDonald before walking briskly away.

A laugh forces itself out of my lips and I press the back of my hand to my mouth, but the smile is still in my eyes.

"What?" Doctor McDonald demands. I don't answer, afraid I'll just laugh. "WHAT?"

I burst out laughing, just looking at his red face. "Your name's Francis!" I then started laughing uncontrollably. Doctor McDonald looked infuriated but also a little embarrassed, and Enobaria was smirking.

"Enough!" he finally said. "That's it. You two spend the night in the prison room. I'll take these two."

"But—" Enobaria began, but then stopped and sighed. "Fine. But could you get Brutus to show them to a room? I don't want anyone to do anything with or to them until Landon and I get the chance to talk to them."

Doctor McDonald huffs out an aggravated sigh. "Fine."

He then drags us along the hallways, down all the flights of stairs, all the way to the prison room, which is on the same floor as the crazies. He flings us into an empty one and shuts the door. There's a big, see-through rectangular window next to the metal door so the guards can see the prisoners are ok. Dr. McDonald looks at us through the window.

"Asshole!" I shout to him from my spot on the floor. Dr. McDonald raises his eyebrows, showing us he hadn't heard. So I get up, walk over to the glass and breath on it for a few seconds so a little fog cloud appears. I write "asshole" on it backwards so he's able to read it. He scowls at me, and Remy cracks a smile behind him. I smirk at the doctor.

"Nice." Enobaria says, getting up from her sitting position and crossing over to the glass. She peers out of it, watching as they walk away. When the door slams shut, Enobaria whips her communicuff out of her pocket. "Retard forgot to take my communicuff." She smirks. She taps the screen a few times and it makes a few boops and beeps and then she straps it onto her wrist, looking satisfied.

"Who did you…call?"

"Brutus."

"Isn't Doctor McDonald looking for him?"

"Eh." Enobaria shrugs. "He'll come for us first."

I sit down against the wall. "I wish I had a communicuff."

Enobaria chuckles. "Keep dreamin, kid."

I sigh and roll my eyes, and Enobaria sits on the opposite side of the room. "He should be here soon…"

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Enobaria attempts at conversation but just ends up making me feel crappy. "How's your brother?" she asks.

I frown. I forgot she knew him. Well, I guess most people do. There's a pregnant pause, but then I finally answer. "I…don't know." I admit.

My brother, Crispin, is two years older than me. He went into the Games when he was fourteen and he won, but it was really close that year. It was him and the boy from Four left. Four threw a spear at Crispin's leg and he nearly died of blood loss, but managed to throw his knife into the other kid's back. The other one didn't die right away, but Crispin couldn't get up to stab him again, so they basically just waited it out to see who died first. In the end, Four's injury was worse than Crispin, so Crispin won. A month after he was home from the Games, he ran off with is girlfriend, Mia, and he now works at some fancy place in the Capitol. I honestly don't know what he does. At first I got the occasional e-mail, but now he just stopped talking to me altogether.

"Oh." Enobaria says, always one to be sympathetic. (Detect the heavy sarcasm).

"Yeah."

Just then the lock turns and the door flings open. Brutus stands there, a goofy smile planted on his face. "There's my trouble makers."

Enobaria punches him in the arm. "Shut it, we're not supposed to be out, remember?"

"Ah, relax. It was an… 'emergency.' We could say that, right?"

"Whatever."

We walk down the halls and I break away from Brutus and Enobaria when I get up to my floor. I open my door, head pounding, and am about to flop onto my bed when I realize there are people on my couch.

I stop and stare at them all weirdly. "Uh…"

Three of the victors I saw at the meeting are sitting on my couch. But wait…wasn't my couch on the other side of the room? "Oh. Crap. Wrong room." And with that I march out the door, slamming it behind me. I look at the number on the door; my room is two doors over. So, taking extra care to look at the number, I barrel into my room, going straight for the couch (that's on the right side this time) when I realize there are _still_ people on it. "What the hell?"

But then I see the people, and this is not unusual. Glimmer, Marvel, and Cato—especially Glimmer and Cato—find it acceptable to be in my room whenever they please. Um, no.

"Helloooo, Clove." Marvel says.

"Why are you in my room?" I ask them.

"We didn't think you would be in here tonight." Glimmer says.

"So…why are you in my room?" I repeat.

Cato steps aside and gestures with his hand to Remington, who is sitting on my couch. And behind him is Annabella. So Brutus gets asked to put them somewhere and he puts them in my room? I don't think so! I'll have to get Enobaria to move them.

"Remy? Why are you in here?"

"That guy put us in here."

"Oh, so you know each other?" Marvel asks suspiciously.

"Well, yeah, she's the one that found us." Remy answers.

"Wait, wait, wait." I say, walking towards them. I push Cato, Glimmer, and Marvel back a few steps so that Remy and Annabella have room to breathe. "You still never answered my question."

"We saw Brutus bring two people in here and we got curious." Glimmer says. "I'm sorry Clove, we didn't mean to intrude or anything, we just—"

"Yes, we did mean to intrude." Marvel interrupts. "Clove, are you an idiot? How do you know these kids are trustworthy?"

I roll my eyes. "Marvel. You know I'm not one to trust someone easily. Landon trusts them. Even _Enobaria _approved of them. Okay? So take a pill."

Marvel still seemed on edge, same with Cato.

"Where'd you find them?" Cato asks.

"In a building."

Cato rolls his eyes. "Clove—"

"Look, don't worry about it, okay? It doesn't matter! They're here now, so who gives a damn? They're going to train and help us. Okay?"

Marvel is standing straight and rigid. Glimmer slips her hand into his and he sighs, looking at her, and she smiles. His muscles slowly relax. "Fine. But if they turn out to be rebels, I call dibs."

Annabella gasps. "Marvel!" Glimmer slaps him on the arm, her eyes widened. "It was nice meeting you." She says with a sweet smile before tugging Marvel out of the room.

Cato stays behind. "Are they…going to stay with you?" he asks stiffly.

"I'll get Enobaria to move them later. Why?"

"…No reason." He says. I notice the whole time his eyes never leave Remy. Remy is staring intently back, a hint of confusion in his eyes. In Cato's…it almost seemed like anger, and, strange enough…jealousy.

Cato breaks his gaze from Remy and storms to the door. "Hey." I say, catching up with him in the hallway. His hand is on the handle to his room, which is right across the hall from mine. "What's your problem?"

Cato turns to me. "What's my problem?" he says icily. He opens his mouth as if to say something else, but then closes it, then opens it again, closes it. He shakes his head. "Nevermind."

"Why don't you tell me?"

Cato turns around and leans against the wall outside his door. He sighs. "Clove…" but he just shakes his head again.

"Whatever." I say dismissively. "Don't be so emotional."

I walk back into my room, not even bothering to close the door behind me. When I walk over to the couch, Annabella gets up and hugs me. "Thanks for saving us." She whispers.

I just stand there, unsure of what to do, because like I've said, I'm not good with sympathy, or…hugs. I'm about to hug her back but then she releases me and goes back to the couch, watching some cartoon that's on the TV.

Remy is standing, and he steps forward and wraps his arms tightly around me. I hesitate for a moment, but then I hug him back just as tightly. It feels good, hugging someone. Call me cheesy, but ever since Crispin left, I haven't _really_ hugged someone. So I stay like that for a while, hugging Remy, and he doesn't pull away.

"Thanks." He says.

I hear a door slam shut across the hallway, much louder than need be. I pull away from Remy. The little number on Cato's door is vibrating.

What is wrong with him?


	8. A Deadly Training

**My author's note is at the bottom this time, because you should read it after the chapter! Hehehe…I'm tricky. :D This chapter might be a little dull, but I have plans for the next chapter. **** New characters, anon! :D**

It's two days later, and it's been decided that I need to be "chauffeured" to the classroom from now on. Because apparently I'm "irresponsible" and "unreliable." Psh. Whatever.

Doctor McDonald sent some meaty guards to escort me to the classroom. I was planning on sleeping in again, so that's what I did. But at 8:17 exactly, the guys burst into my room, dragged me out of bed, and dragged me all the way to the classroom. I was still in my sweatpants and camisole…oh well, not like I would've changed anyway. But I would've grabbed a sweatshirt, it's a little cold in here…plus my hairs a mess. I brush my fingers through it.

They push me into a room and slam the door behind me. I turn around and make a face at them through the window before turning around.

There are about 8 people in here, all between the ages of 13 and 17. Huh…that's all? So not worth getting up for. Anyway, everyone's staring at me.

"What?" I snarl at Travie, who is staring at me from the front of the room with her mouth agape, creating the illusion that she has about five chins. Or maybe that's not an illusion….

"Um," Travie clears her throat. "Take a seat, Clove. And…maybe you shouldn't be late again."

I scowl at her but walk to the back of the room, my bare feet slapping against the tile floor. I pull out one of the chairs and sit down in the only open seat, which is next to Cato. Normally I wouldn't mind, but he's been acting a little…weird lately.

Travie starts rambling on about friction and crap and I slump down in my seat, observing the room. They put fold out tables and chairs up to serve as desks, two people to a table. Glimmer and Marvel sit at the desk next to us, and in the rest of the seats some random trainers or victors that were either required to come or just wanted to come, but it's beyond me why someone would. I notice that Annabella and Remy are here, too. They're sitting in the desk in front of Glimmer and Marvel. Annabella has her knees tucked up to her chin and looks like she's listening intently, but Remy is scribbling furiously on something under his desk. I cross my right leg over my left and cross my arms over my chest. I'm cold, bored, and tired. Not a good combination.

"Nice of you to show up." Cato murmurs beside me.

I throw a scowl in his direction. "Don't even talk to me."

"Oh?" Cato smirks. "And why not?"

I twist my torso so I'm facing him, narrowing my eyes. "You aren't going to talk to me all normal like nothing happened a few days ago."

"Nothing did happen!"

I roll my eyes. "Cato, don't. You and I both know that you were acting weird. What was with that?"

Cato frowns. "Just forget about it. I'm over it now, anyway."

"Over _what_?"

"Don't worry about it."

I groan. "You're so annoying."

He smiles. "I know."

"Cato? Clove?" Travie calls from the front of the room. "Would you like to pay attention?"

"No." I state simply.

Travie seems taken aback. "Well…you are going to, anyway."

Didn't turn out how you thought it would, did it Travie? I love when that happens to people.

She talks for a few more minutes and then pauses. "Are there any questions?" she asks. Silence. "…any?" It remains quiet.

I clear my throat and uncross my arms so I can raise my hand. "I have a question." I can feel Cato's eyes on me.

"Yes, Clove?" Travie asks, looking pleased that someone actually asked something. I'm guessing responses aren't a regular thing for her.

"Are you pregnant?"

Travie frowns, looking shocked. "N-no." she says, her cheeks turning red. "Why would you think that?"

I raised my eyebrows in a _uh, why wouldn't you think that_? way and stare at her. "Well…no reason. Just checking."

Cato chuckles beside me and offers me a high-five once Travie turns back to the wipe-board and I slap his palm.

"She _does_ look pregnant." He whispers.

I just smirk in response. When I look to my right, Glimmer frowns at me and gives a slight shake of her head, but Marvel is hiding a smile behind his palm. As my eyes are traveling back up to the board, they catch Remy's. He's smiling at me, a light, playful smile. I'm pretty sure Annabella is asleep. Oh, well. I smile back at Remy.

I'm finding Remington to be a really nice friend. It's not like my friendship with Cato, that's always joking and sarcastic—even in the Games, if we were both in a good mood—it's just…different. Hard to explain. Cato is always planning ahead, but Remy just kind of goes with the flow. Also, he always hugs me when he sees me. I'm not sure if I like this or not yet, but I always hug him back anyway because I don't want to be mean.

Wait—woah. Did I just say that? _I _don't want to be mean? What's happening to me? It's not like I'm _cruel_…well, yeah I am, but only sometimes. But when I'm with Remy I just feel like…a nice person. I'm not saying it's good or bad, I just honestly don't know right now. All I do know is that I don't need this friendship crap, I need to be concentrating on Katniss. And once she's dead…then I can do whatever I want. I'll be the happiest person in the world; I _will_ kill Katniss Everdeen, after all. The Mockingjay.

I smile to myself as I think of it—the loser districts going into chaos as their rebellion is killed. And it will be all because of me.

Finally Travie lets us go. We're not supposed to be assigned homework because we need to concentrate on our training, so at least I don't have to worry about that.

Glimmer is by my side before I'm even out the door. "That wasn't very nice, Clove." Glimmer says with a frown.

I shrug. "Whatever. She probably didn't get it anyway."

Glimmer sighs and grabs Marvel's hand and they walk off in the opposite direction. I turn to go the other way when I run into Remy. "Hi." He says, smiling.

"Hey." I say, then gesture to the marked up papers in his hand. "What are those?"

He frowns and then stuffs them in his pocket. "Nothin. But anyway, I'm gonna be late for training, I was wondering if you could tell Frezno?"

"Ugh." I groan at the mention of Frezno, the creepy trainer who took Xavier's place once he left. "Yeah, I'll tell him." I mumble.

"Thanks." Remy smiles. He turns and walks away with Annabella on his heels.

"He'll never last in the war." Cato says from behind me.

I turn around and narrow my eyes at him. "Oh? And why do you think that?"

"No reason." Cato shrugs.

"You know what?" I ask, taking a few steps forward so I'm right in front of him. "I think you're just jealous."

"Jealous?" Cato scoffs. "Of what?"

"Of Remy."

"Why would I be?" Cato asks, but his face looks a little unsure.

I smirk at him. "Face it, Cato. You're jealous because my attention isn't on you all the time anymore." If you didn't know, Cato and I have been really close friends ever since we were little.

Cato frowns. "That's not it at all, Clove."

"So you _are _jealous of _something_." I say in an ah-ha! Way.

"No. I'm not."

"But you are."

All of a sudden Cato hugs me. I'm so shocked that I just stand there. He pulls away looking angry. "What, you can hug some jack ass you just met but you can't hug me?"

I frown. Since when is Cato so into hugs? "Well, Cato, I—"

"Clove." I look at him. "I'm sorry."

I'm thinking that he's developed a bipolar disease or something of the sort.

"Um, thanks for apologizing, I guess."

"I just…when you…when Thresh killed you, Clove…it was the most horrible thing I've ever been through."

I frown. Maybe I haven't been being the nicest friend. I mean, I _did_ go and die on Cato when we were supposed to win together. I could imagine how horrible that would be. If I had lost Cato in the games…I don't even want to think about it. I've tried to block out the Games as much as possible; whenever I think about it I just get mad. At myself, at Katniss. It just puts me in a bad mood.

"I'm sorry." I say. "I'm being horrible."

"No, that's okay." Cato grins. "You're just a horrible person."

I roll my eyes and punch his shoulder. "I gotta go get ready for training."

"Alright." Cato says. "See you."

I go up to my room and change into clothes for training. I'm probably gonna be five minutes late at the least. Oh, well. I usually am. Plus, the longer time I have away from Frezno, the better.

"You're late, Clovey-poo." I hear the nasally voice call out before I can even step fully into my room. I roll my eyes and I'm about to walk out of the room when a hand grabs my wrist.

"You are _not_ leaving me alone with him for another second." Glimmer hisses through her teeth.

"Glimmy, back to archery, please!" Glimmer rolls her eyes and stomps off to the archery station.

Frezno is, by far, the most annoying, creepy person I have_ ever_ met. I think the hospital hired him because the other trainers were asking for too much money or something, because I doubt this man has an aggressive bone in his body.

I look up, grimacing, to his grinning face. Even though we're in a training room, Frezno is wearing brown and tan bowling shoes. He has on his usual hideous plaid tweed suit. He wears his hair slicked back with enough gel to pollute a whole district and a brown caterpillar of a moustache underneath his bulbous nose. His skin is died hot pink, which clashes horribly with his normal outfits.

Here's something you should know about Frezno: he's kinda like that creepy Uncle that everyone has, the one who you want to stay away from and definitely _not _be alone with.

He's, obviously, from the capitol. He doesn't even train us, he just sort of…watches us. Us resurrected folk just help the other victors and the other victors help us. It's just as beneficial as having a good trainer.

I ignore Frezno and go over to the knives. The knife station is up on the second floor of the training. It's kind of like a balcony where you can look down at the rest of the training room, and it's definitely my favorite place.

Unfortunately, Frezno followed me up there. I sigh and try to concentrate on my throwing but then he comes up behind me and grabs my wrist.

"You need to hold it like this—"

I ram my shoulder blade into his back and he stumbled backward.

"Listen, creep." I hiss. "Keep your filthy paws the hell away from me!"

Frezno looks shocked, then takes out a popsicle stick from his back pocket and pops it into his mouth. I turn away to pick up a knife and when I look at him again he's smiling at me with a crazed look in his eye. But that's how he always looks.

"How did you even get hired here?"

"I got connections, sweetheart."

I glare at him and I'm about to throw my knife right into my face when Remington steps to the top of the stairs.

"Clove?" he asks, looking at me warily.

I don't look at him, I keep my glare on Frezno, who is still smiling like an idiot even though he's about to get a knife in the face.

I move to throw my knife but Remy is by my side and he catches my right arm and the knife clatters to the floor.

I turn to him. "What?" I spit at him.

"You can't…kill him, Clove." Remy says, looking shocked. I feel a little bad for snapping at him, but once I'm in a violent mood I kind of stay that way.

"Why. Not?" I ask, keeping my eyes locked with Frezno's, barely caring that I'm scaring the crap out of Remy.

"Because…we have to go." Remy says, looking for an excuse. "You can…uh…kill him later."

I finally break my gaze away from Frezno's and look at Remy. "Why?"

"I was sent to get you. Landon wants to see you and the others…"

I look begrudgingly at Frezno, who now has his calloused hands on either side of his cheeks, his ultra-thin lips in a wide O. He's just standing like that. What the hell?

"Fine." I sigh, and follow Remy. But when I pass by Frezno, I shove him as hard as I can.

Frezno, being the living stick figure he is, practically flies backward, into the glass ledge that blocks off the balcony. And it shatters. Frezno tumbles over the edge. My jaw drops open. A few seconds later I hear a loud _crack_ that echoes through the whole gym, followed by a loud shriek.

I slowly cross over to the edge of the balcony and look over. Frezno is lying on the floor along with a montage of glass. His arms and legs are twisted funny ways, and you can see a bone sticking out through his neck. Blood is literally spilling from his head. Standing right next to him is a very shocked Glimmer. Both hands are clasped over her mouth, her big eyes impossibly widened with surprise. She slowly looks up towards me and points to Frezno. I smile sheepishly and shrug.

Marvel, who was at the spear station across the room, is silent for a moment. Then, he bursts out laughing. He laughs and laughs, and soon I join in. I turn to go down the stairs and I see Remy standing there, looking more than a little scared.

"What?" I ask.

"You people…" he shakes his head, trying to smile a little. "Are the cruelest people I have ever met in my entire life."

I shrug. "Probably." I smile at him. "What do you expect? We were in the Hunger Games. We're careers."

"HELL YEAH WE ARE, BABY!" I hear Marvel call from the bottom floor.

I lead the way down the stairs and I hear Remy follow close behind me. "Not just your average careers." Marvel says once we get down to the main floor. "Did you know we have a record for killing the most people at the cornucopia? Ever?"

"Yeah." Glimmer smiles modestly. "We're pretty awesome, huh?"

"Totally!"

Remy looks at Frezno's body on the floor, then kneels down and feels his pulse. "He's dead." He announces.

"Clove, I kinda still hate you, but I have to admit that was _epic_." Marvel grins.

"Thanks." I smile back.

"Should we get somebody?" Remy asks, concerned.

I wrinkle my nose, staring at Frezno's dead body. "Nah. Someone will find him."

Glimmer, Marvel, and I walk out of the room with Remy trailing behind. "What do you think Landon wants us for?" Glimmer asks absentmindedly.

Marvel shrugs and then puts his arm around Glimmer. "Dunno. Hopefully it's good."

We're ordered to go to the first room we met in, but Remy had to stay behind. He left us soon after we departed from the training room, though, because we ran into Cato. I can't help but think something funny is going on between them.

Shortly we're all in the room along with Cashmere, Gloss, Enobaria, and Brutus. After about a minute of silence Landon strides into the room. "Good afternoon, everyone." He says in his deep voice. We all greet him.

"So. As you may or may not have heard, we're planning a direct attack on thirteen this week. And we were all thinking that since the rebels have made so many propos using Katniss, it was time to introduce Panem to our secret weapon. Mentors, I have you here for extra approval. So, what do you think?"

Before anyone can say anything I speak. "No."

Landon raises his dark eyebrows, making his bald head wrinkle. "No?"

"No." I repeat simply.

"And why do you say no?" He asks. Everyone's eyes are on me, filled with shock.

I sit forward in my chair. "I want her to see me in person. I want her to know that I'm _really_ here, and that they have absolutely no chance. For all they know, you could have just created an animation of us and put it in the propos. The only way to cause fear is to get directly to the root; trust me, I know. So what I'm trying to say is that I need her to see me, I mean _really _see me, and _then_ the rest of Panem can know that we exist, with the approval of Katniss Everdeen herself." I cross my arms and sit back into my seat.

Everyone is quiet as they think about what I just said. Landon's mouth sets in a tight line and he stares at the table as he thinks it over. Finally, he lifts his head and looks at me. "I see your point. Alright, prepare yourselves. All of you." He says, looking at the Victors as well. "We leave for Thirteen tomorrow night. I'll have to re-arrange the plans to bomb if we're going to send you in, but I trust your judgment, Clove. Thank you all, you may go now."

We all file out of the room silently. Cato smiles and whispers in my ear the very same words he whispered right before the games, "Ready to kick some District Twelve ass?"

I grin and respond exactly as I did before. "Hell yeah. Now let's get this thing over with so we can go home."

**Okay! I have big plans for the next chapter! :D**

**Now a little question that I would really appreciate you guys to answer:**

**Should Clove and Remy become a thing? Or maybe even Clove and Cato? I've been trying to decide, but I don't want you guys to think this is turning into a love triangle type of story or anything like that. Unless you want it to be… :o but I'm really not sure. If you don't want it, I won't put it, so please tell me! **

**You guys are the best! 3**


	9. District 12, anon!

**Hi everyone! **** ok, so for the last chapter I only got **_**two**_** reviews. **** so I'm going to try and make this chapter reeeeaally good so you guys like it! Sorry the last one was a little slow. Anyway…please enjoy! :D**

The next day was chaotic. Everyone was running around, packing supplies and weapons and preparing for tonight. It was decided that Glimmer, Marvel, Cato, Remy, Brutus and Enobaria, Cashmere, Gloss, and myself would go along with Landon and the other soldiers. They almost didn't let Remy go, but Marvel convinced them to. Apparently he wanted to see if Remy's spear-throwing is all it's cracked up to be.

We're supposed to leave in about fifteen minutes. I run down to my room to grab a few extra knives before we leave and find Annabella sitting on the couch watching TV. It's some kid channel. There's a weird-looking girl on the screen, and in the corner it said T.T.I.

The little girl smiled. "The time I drove my teacher to the hospital." She announced. "One time during school, my teacher started to have her baby. There were other teachers in the building that I could have gotten, but I decided to drive her myself!"

I wrinkle my nose. "_What_ are you _watching_?"

"Oh." Annabella looks at me and smiles sheepishly. "It's just this dumb show."

I roll my eyes. "Okay…well I gotta go. See you."

"Be careful!" she calls out after me.

I ignore her and sprint up the stairs. I was supposed to be at the hovercraft landing on the roof five minutes ago.

A gust of cold air blows my hair back as I open the door to the roof. It's freezing up here!

"'Bout time!" Enobaria shouts to me over the roar of the hovercraft. "We were just about to send someone to get you! Come on, we have to go!"

I run over to her and step onto the ladder to the hovercraft, my feet freezing to it until I'm deposited safely inside. Everyone is already seated when I get in there. I take a seat next to Glimmer and we take off a second later.

"Clove! How are you? I haven't talked to you all day! You must be so excited. I know I am."

I sigh. My head is pounding and I really don't need Glimmer's rambling to ruin my mood. I take my little cylinder of pills out of my pocket and swallow two of them. Glimmer stares at me warily.

"Those are prescription, right?" she asks, eyeing the bottle.

I roll my eyes. "_Yes_, Glimmer."

She sighs with relief. "Oh. Okay!"

Thankfully, the hovercraft ride isn't terribly long, only about two hours. I had expected worse. The hours go by very quickly, and before I know it we're in District Twelve. I look out the window at the crap hole they call District Twelve. It's in complete ruins, but I have a feeling it didn't look much different before they bombed it. Only the victor's houses are in tact—not that anyone really lived in them, anyway.

Landon comes through a sliding white door towards the front of the hovercraft. "Okay." He says, rubbing his large hands together, "We'll be in Thirteen in a few minutes. Here's the plan." He explains that they are all living underground, that they know we're coming. We're on a very strict time limit. We have exactly twenty minutes to go in, gather whatever—or whoever—we can before we're scheduled to drop the bombs. They're deep, _deep_ underground, but it should do some kind of damage. "I want a few of you to go deeper than others." He says. "Cato, Clove, Enobaria, Marvel, and Cashmere. The rest of you will be investigating the upper levels." He raises his eyebrows. "Understood?"

"Understood." We all repeat. Glimmer gives Marvel and I a hug before we get off the hovercraft.

"See you soon!" she smiles. "Get some District Twelvians." I laugh and we step out of the hovercraft into the humid, hot air of District Thirteen. There's _nothing_ here but a small building not a mile away. That must be where we're supposed to go.

"Oh, wait! Clove!" Glimmer calls, her blond curls flying everywhere as she runs towards me. She holds out her pointer finger. "Kill Katniss!" she grins.

I roll my eyes, sticking out my finger as well. I forgot about our handshake. Glimmer hits hers against mine. "Clink, Clink!"

I laugh. "See you, Glimmer."

"Okay!"

We decide to split up. Cato and I will go on our own while Enobaria, Marvel, and Cashmere will stay together. When we get underground I stop for a moment to survey. The halls are somewhat circular, and completely white with doors evenly spaced along the way, many left ajar. I look inside one of them and tell Cato to do the same. There's black writing on the wall. It looks like a schedule—Breakfast, 7:00. Training, 8:40. Free Period, 10:00. And so on. I sift through drawers and closets but find nothing of importance. Also, there's not a soul to be seen. But when we go a floor lower I hear something. Muffled voices, lots of them.

"Cato." I say, keeping my voice low. "Do you hear that?"

Cato stays still for a moment, listening. "Yeah. Probably all the rebels downstairs. Landon told us not to go down there, though. We'll be overpowered."

I nod. "I know. I just—" A paper rustles from behind me. I spin around, knife ready to release my knife if necessary. But what I see is…no one. There's no one there. "What the hell was that?" I ask, my eyes darting around the room.

"What?" Cato asks.

"That noise. Did you hear it? It was right behind me."

Cato comes up to me, holding his pistol by his side. I was also offered a gun, but I prefer my knives. Then, from around the corner. Someone steps out.

"It's…a cat." Cato says, snickering. A little yellow, pathetic looking cat his pacing back and forth, mewing. I roll my eyes.

"Whatever. Let's just move on."

We go through another floor.

"We better hurry." Cato says. "We only have, like, ten minutes left."

I sigh. "Damn. I wish we had more time."

"Me too, but we'll get—"

I shove a fist into his stomach, cutting him off. He coughs. "What the—?"  
"Shut up, Cato!" I hiss. I heard something. I stay completely still, listening.

Footsteps. I hear footsteps. And these do not belong to a cat, or any animal. These are definitely human. And they're coming down the stairs. Then, I hear shouting. We're down pretty low and the noise has gotten louder, but this sounds as if it's only a few floors away, like someone is at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hurry! Hurry, come on!" I hear a male's voice saying.

"Prim! The doors are gonna close!" yells a female voice. A voice that is all too familiar.

"I had to get Buttercup!"

I look at Cato, a smile spreading across my face. Prim. Primrose Everdeen. I recognize the name. It's Katniss's sister, the one she volunteered to go into the Games for. The one she loves so much that she would _die_ for her. The only mentally stable person she has left in her family.

And she's so close. So close that I can hear her footsteps. That door is about to close.

Then I see a head of silky blond hair down the hallway, on the staircase. The girl is petite, thin. She drops the cat and momentarily has to stop to pick her up. And that's my chance.

I sprint faster than I have ever sprinted, even faster than I ran at the cornucopia, even faster than I ran at the feast. I stop my momentum only a second before I crash into Primrose. I hear her startled gasp, and Cato's pounding footsteps behind me. I wrap my arms tight around Prim, holding both of her thin arms down with my left one and using my right to hold a knife to her throat.

"Move and you die." I hiss in her ear. I hear her sharp intake of breath and a cruel laugh escapes me. I turn to face down the stairs, finding myself staring straight into the eyes of Katniss Everdeen. Cato is next to me, now, and he is also looking at Katniss. I flash an evil grin at her, never feeling better in my life.

All the noise blocks out except for Katniss. I hear the helpless squeak that escapes her mouth. Her whisper, "Impossible…" I can see the look of raw fear radiating off of her. I stare into her strange grey eyes the whole time, but out of the corner of my eye I can see Cato smirking at her.

"I'm baaaaaack." I finally sing-song down to her, feeling purely evil and loving every second of it.

"Katniss!" Prim calls out to her helplessly. What does this remind me of? Ah, her helpless little ally in the Games, Rue. I remember hearing this same screech from far of in the distance, but from a different person.

I smile as Katniss finally manages to shout back, "Prim!" but the metal door has closed. Alarms are going off. I hear my name called out from the top of the stairs.

"Clove! Hurry up, we have two minutes!" Enobaria shouts.

All the lights have gone off in the emergency preparation of this strange underground place, the only lights to guide us are the flashing red emergency ones. The sirens are so loud I can barely hear myself think.

We finally break through to above ground, where we see the hovercraft roaring to go. Landon is standing in the doorway.

"GO, GO, GO!" he shouts, waving his muscular arm urgently. I run flat out all the way to the hovercraft and we practically jump into the hovercraft, dragging Primrose with us. The door closes less than a second after we're in and we shoot upwards, the explosions ringing out underneath us.

We make it to clear sky and are able to slow down to a normal speed. Primrose is yanked from my grasp. Cato and I lay panting on the hovercraft floor.

"Holy crap…" I hear mutters as Landon pulls Primrose up roughly off of the ground.

Landon nods to me. "Very nice work, Clove. I hadn't expected to find anyone close to her importance…"

"Thanks." I manage to breathe out.

After a few more minutes I lift myself into a sitting position, but I almost black out from the horrible pain in my head. I manage to meet Cato's palm for a high-five before Enobaria and Brutus help me into a chair.

"Do you understand what you just did?" Enobaria asks me, slipping me two of my pills. Through the black spots in my vision I can see her beaming at me. "You just captured the Mockingjay's sister. Clove, this is _amazing_. This changed _everything_. You saw how crazy Katniss was over that girl—she's the reason she went into the Games in the first place. We'll need to take her in for questioning very soon…but Clove, you have officially redeemed yourself from dying."

I manage a weak smile. "Thanks, Enobaria."

I pass out shortly after that, but when I wake up again I feel a lot better. I'm informed that there's only fifteen minutes until we get back to the hospital. I look around the room, and I'm congratulated by everyone, when all of a sudden Cato asks, "Where's Remy?"

I realize that Remy is not there. I had totally forgotten about him.

"Oh, he's dead." Glimmer says with a wave of her hand. "We ran into a few guards. We killed them before they could spread word that we were there, but…they killed Remy first. Sorry, Clove."

Does it make me a bad person that I realize I don't really care? Remy was a weakling anyway, he just made it obvious by going and dying.

"No, I don't mind." I say.

"Good." Glimmer smiles and turns back around.

Cato is still sleeping on a couch on the opposite side of the hovercraft. A lot of people are sleeping, actually. Landon steps out of that white door again. "Oh, Clove, you're up." He says, and then he smiles, revealing his white teeth. This is the first time I've ever seen him smile.

"Are you feeling well again?"

"Yes."

"Good. Could you come with me for a second?"

I heave myself up off of the couch and follow him through the white door. There's a huge desk at the front with about a million buttons and there's window that goes from the top to the bottom of the hovercraft. A man sits in the pilot seat, steering the hovercraft over the twinkling capitol. But to the right of him, slumped in a chair off to the side, is Primrose Everdeen, tied up and slumped over. I'm guessing she's been sedated. Her thin blond hair is a mess, she has marks and cuts all over her, and even with her eyes closed I can see the dark circles underneath them.

Landon steps back and beams at me. "Observe your work." He says, gesturing to Prim.

I smile back up at him. "You like it?"

"I do. You capturing Primrose is more than I had ever hoped to accomplish on this mission. So, I think you need a reward."

I raise my eyebrows. "I _do_ like rewards."

Landon chuckles, then reaches into his pocket. He holds his hand in front of me, opens it, and resting in his palm is….

"A COMMUNICUFF! YESSS!" Finally! Ha-ha! I have to go rub this in Enobaria's face!

Landon laughs. "I trust you'll put it to good use." He says as I strap it around my wrist, observing all the different buttons. "Do you think you could come to question Primrose tomorrow? I'll send someone to tell you what room and time."

I nod. "Of course. Thanks, Landon."

"No, thank _you_."

I smile before waltzing out of the room and shoving my wrist right in Enobaria's face. "HA!" I say, smiling proudly.

"Well, well, well." Enobaria grins. "I guess it isn't impossible for you to get one. Way to go."

I'm still in a good mood as we get off of the hovercraft, and again as I'm walking to my room. But then I see Annabella sleeping on my couch and I feel a little guilty. Remy was the only family she had, and now…well, he's dead.

But only a little guilty. I get a nurse to take her to her own room. After all, I _am_ from ruthless, bloody District Two.

And I love it.


	10. Bloody Primrose

**Hey guys! So sorry for the late update…this chapter was originally supposed to be up two Mondays ago, then it was supposed to be finished on Christmas, but…well, I never ended up finishing it until tonight. So anyway, I decided that I didn't really like Remy anymore if you didn't notice…so bam, he's dead. **** hope you like this chapter! **

**Oh and by the way, this chapter is a bit evil toward the end of the questioning…oh well. **** That's Clove.**

**HAPPY NEW YEAR! ****  
**

I'm standing in front of a heavy metal door in one of the dusty, smelly hallways of the hospital basement. I grip my knife tightly in my right hand, bouncing on my toes. This is partly because I'm excited, and partly because it's _freezing_ down here. But more from excitement. I was beginning to think they weren't going to have me for questioning at all—I was supposed to go four days ago.

"It's this one right here." The bulky man that led me down here says, pointing to the rusted door. "I'll knock when it's time for you to come out. And remember—don't kill her. And don't go too crazy, she needs to be able to talk."

I nod. "Alrighty."

The guy slid open a heavy latch and then swung the door open. I took one step inside and it slammed behind me.

It's eerily quiet in this room. So quiet that the slam of the door still echoes around the peeling walls for a few seconds. The room is very, very large, with old cement floors like the ones that ran throughout the basement level of the hospital and stained cement walls to match. The lighting is a dim, foggy glow that is coming from a single loose bulb hanging in the very center of the room. And under that light is the only object in the room—an old, wooden chair which contains Primrose Everdeen.

Prim looks even thinner and paler than she did when I first saw her, and I wonder if they have even fed her at all. Her head is down, a curtain of thin blond hair shielding herself from me. Her hands and feet are chained tightly to the arms and legs of the old chair. They sure are doing a good job at the old-fashioned theme if that's what they were trying to do.

She doesn't even look up when the door closes. I take a few steps closer, and even my quiet footsteps send loud echoes throughout the whole room. I notice then that she has small cuts all over her—on her face, arms, collarbone. Little pieces of her hair have also been cut off, I observe, but not so much that it's too noticeable. Just for humiliation? Who knows.

It's not until I'm standing right in front of her that she looks up. She lifts her head, slowly. She's shivering just the slightest bit, from either cold or hunger or fear or all of the above. But to my surprise, she's the first one to speak.

"How are you alive?" She asks me. Her voice is just a whisper and cracks at the end of the sentence.

I give her a half-smile and point up. "Doctors."

Prim gives her head a slight shake. "But…but I watched you die." She states, her voice a little stronger. "I watched you _try_ to kill my sister and then I watched _you_ die." She tries to say with confidence but doesn't look me in the eye.

Even though it shouldn't get to me, it does, just in the slightest. I quickly reach out and slash her on the arm. She gasps and sinks back in her chair, the shallow cut starting to bleed just a little.

"Aren't _I_ the one who's supposed to be asking the questions?" I ask her, raising my eyebrows. She doesn't respond. I sigh.

"So, _Primrose_." I begin, pacing slowly back and forth. "What exactly did you do to help the rebel forces?"

It takes her a minute to answer. "I was training to be a nurse."

I turn to look at her. "A nurse? I'm guessing they didn't give you much information, then?"

Primrose shakes her head.

"But you did know _some_ information. More than most nurses, am I correct?"

She hesitates, but then nods.

"And why was that?" I ask her, as though I didn't already know the answer. Enobaria had already filled me in on a lot of things, and told me which questions I should stick to the most.

Prim stays silent, but when I take a step toward her she talks. "Because Katniss is my sister."

"And Katniss is…?"

"The Mockingjay." Prim says softly, looking down again.

I nod and laugh a little at the dumb name. Why center a whole war around a stupid bird? "Right. So how long have the rebels been planning this war?" I ask her. She just glares at me, her pale blue eyes boring into mine. But after a second she answers.

"I don't know."

I raise my eyebrows. "You don't know?"

"I told you. They didn't tell me anything. Katniss didn't even tell me much."

"And why is that?"

"Because I'm…too young, apparently." She says, her annoyance showing through her weak voice.

"Do you wish that _you_ were the Mockingjay? Your sister has gotten a lot of attention."

Prim shakes her head. "I'll never be as strong as my sister." She says, disappointment clear in her tone.

I snort. "You're sister is just some poor kid from District Twelve who got lucky and was stupid enough to ruin it."

Prim looks up at me, fury on her little face. "You don't know anything about my sister."

I stare at her for a moment. "You're right. And that's why I need you to tell me about her." I start walking back and forth again. "Who was that boy she was with the day I captured you?"

An expression ghosts over her empty face, one that I can't quite place—is that fear? Her eyes widen for a fraction of a second, then she clears her throat and takes a deep breath.

"No one."

"What was his name?"

She clears her throat again. "Darius." She says finally, and then she squirms in her seat a little.

I narrow my eyes, observing her behavior. She keeps clearing her throat. She's fidgeting. I've always been good at knowing if people are telling the truth or not, but it's not that hard to tell that Prim is definitely fibbing. I can tell this is a vital piece of information if she's lying about it, no matter how little it may seem.

"You're lying." I accuse after I finish my assessment. "Who was it?"

"His name was Darius!"

I cross over to her in one swift step and press the knife to the underbelly of her arm, hard. "Who. Was. It?" I spit at her.

Prim grits her teeth, and I can tell she's not planning on telling me. I add a little more pressure to the knife, it's about to break skin. "Are you going to tell me? Or do I have to _cut_ it out of you?"

She still doesn't answer. I guess I'll have to go with the latter option.

I press the knife hard into her skin, opening a huge cut. Blood gushes down it, staining her already dirty clothes. She lets out a little yelp and I can tell that she's trying hard to stay strong. So I take the knife away from her arm and move to the other side of the chair. Judging by the other little cuts on her arm, everyone else held back with the torturing. Not me. Primrose is as close to Katniss that I can get.

I place the tip of my sharp blade to her shoulder and put my mouth up to her ear. "I'm going to give you one more chance." I say. "Who was that boy?"

To my surprise, she turns her head toward me so our faces are close together. Then, she spits right in my face. My mouth opens in surprise and my face flushes with fury as I wipe her saliva off of my face. Why does this seem so familiar? She truly is Katniss's sister, inside and out.

"Bad move, honey. Need I remind you who holds the weapon?" I smile evilly at her, and then press the tip of the blade into her shoulder. She screams out in pain and her hands grip the arms of the chair tightly.

"Who was the boy?" I shout at her.

"I will never tell you!" she shouts back. "You can take me, but you will never take him! He's the only one Katniss has left and I won't let you take him away from her!"

A scream swallows her words before she can even take a breath as I drag the knife, still stabbed into her shoulder, down her arm. I stop when I get to the crook of her elbow, smiling at the steady flow of scarlet coming out of her arm. I can tell she's trying not to but now tears are flowing down Prim's cheeks.

"Do you want to tell me before I tear your whole arm up?" I ask her, wiggling the knife a bit where it's wedged in her skin. "Resisting will do you no good, we're going to win anyway. You're rebels—they'll be dead with the press of a button. And you'll have gone through all of this for nothing. Think about it—the more you resist, the more I hurt you. And the more I hurt you, the more it hurts your beloved sister. And you wouldn't want to hurt her, would you?"

Prim's shoulders heave with a sob, and then she winces at the pain it must have caused her.

I hear a knock on the door.

"You have ten seconds." I warn her. "One…"

Prim looks like she's trying to get her breath back.

"Two...you're only hurting her…."

She just cries.

"Ten." I skip seven numbers ahead, fed up, and begin to dig the knife all the way down her arm, pressing even harder. Her screams fill the room and echo around the walls, drowning out the impatient, loud knock on the door. Now the knife is at the palm of her hand….

"His name was Gale Hawthorne!" she suddenly blurts out, and then her eyes widen and her face goes pale. I smile and straighten up, then pull the knife out from the huge gash I just made in her arm.

"Thank you, Primrose." I say, and then walk out the door, leaving the bloody mess whimpering and sobbing behind me.

I open the door and the guard looks angry at first, but then shocked as he sees my knife that's covered in blood all the way up to the handle, and then my bloody hand. I hadn't realized I made such a mess.

"Did you get anything good?" he asks me, peering behind me to look at the sobbing girl.

"You might want to get her a nurse." I alert him. Don't want her bleeding to death. "And I need to see Landon."

The guard just nods and then leads me up the many flights of stairs until we're on the main level, where I get dirty looks from a lot of nurses. I pass Glimmer, who gasps, and then I pass Cato and Marvel, who grin. But I just ignore them, keeping my mind set on Landon, repeating the name over and over in my head. _Gale Hawthorne. Gale Hawthorne. Gale Hawthorne._

When we get to Landon's office I knock once and then open the door before I get an answer. Landon is sitting at his desk and he looks up at me from a pile of papers, looking shocked.

"Clove?"

"We need to get Gale Hawthorne." I tell him immediately.

"Gale Hawthorne?" Landon looks at me, interested.

I nod. "Primrose tried to lie to me about him, I'm guessing he's very important, whoever he is."

Landon nods. "I've heard of him." Then he writes something down. "Gale Hawthorne. Did she tell you what relation he has to Katniss?"

I shake my head. "I couldn't get that far."

"That's alright, we'll have someone else look further into it. Meanwhile…go get yourself cleaned up." He says, gesturing to my bloody-ness. "Thank you, Clove."

I nod and then leave the room, heading towards my own to take a shower. I step into the hot water, smiling as I see the water turn red.

Just like the bloodbath it'll be when we win this damn war.


	11. Glimmer is a Badass

**It has been requested—no, DEMANDED, by a certain author by the name of UnofficiallyGlimmer, that Glimmer should be more "badass" and that there should be more Glimmer in general. So, I'm writing this chapter for you, Allison. You better appreciate it, and I know I'll be seeing a bit more Clove in **_**your**_** story, hmm? Maybe not my best chapter, but I hope you like it anyway. Well, this chapter is in Glimmer's POV, so…enjoy! **

**Glimmer's POV**

I was sitting on one of those uncomfortable seats that have the annoying plastic on them that are in every doctor's office in the country. I have to come here once a week to get this shot to help keep my blood stream clean. Since I died of tracker jacker stings, the poison had infected my blood badly. The first few weeks that I was revived, I barely had an ounce of my own blood in my body—almost all of it had been donated so that they could get rid of the infected blood while I was dead and give me clean blood before I came back to life.

I was eager to get out of here, but Doctor McDonald seemed to be taking even longer than usual to prepare the needle. I despise him. For what reason, I'm not exactly sure, it's just…something about him bothers me to no end. Clove, however, likes him—she says it's "intriguing" when he talks and stuff like that. But honestly, I want to shoot him in the head every time he opens his mouth.

** "**Okay." Doctor McDonald says, turning around. He's wearing those latex gloves and holding up a big needle in his right hand—a needle bigger than any other shot I've gotten so far.

"Um…am I getting a new shot?" I ask him timidly.

Doctor McDonald smiles, but it's not really a smile. It looks more like…an evil smirk. Okay, little weird….I notice a communicuff on his wrist. But it's not like the communicuffs that Cashmere and Clove (which I have _no _idea why she got one—sure she did a good deed, but I don't think she's responsible enough) have. Theirs are sleek and silver. But this is…chunky and black, and has more buttons.

But then I take another look at the needle and notice that the liquid inside isn't clear like usual—it's a sick, disgusting green color.

I frown, feeling utterly confused. Then the frown is replaced by a look of horror as Doctor McDonald lunges toward me, finger on the trigger of the needle. "What are you doing?" I shriek. I'm guessing that by the look on his face—and by the word _Rebels_ that I know see is inscribed on his communicuff—that Doctor McDonald is bad news.

We're trained for fighting in District One just about as much as they are in Two, but unlike our neighbor district we're taught to be polite in public—not hostile and violent like Cato and Clove often are. But I'm pretty sure that those rules don't apply right now.

My fighting instincts kick in and I kick Doctor McDonald hard in the chest, causing him to stumble backward a few steps and drop the needle. I quickly jump to the floor and pick it up.

I don't know what's in this needle, but I'm guessing it can't be good. So when Doctor McDonald comes barreling toward me again, I brace myself and hold the needle in front of me. When he slams into me the needle goes into him, and he frowns. It's not like the needle itself would hurt much, but whatever's in it must be pretty bad. His eyes widen and he wraps his big hands around the needle, pulling it out. I stay pressed against the wall, breathing heavy.

"You're a rebel." I breath.

Doctor McDonald just smiles.

"How long?" I ask him.

But then he falls to the ground, asleep. I'm not sure if he's faking or not, so I warily jump over his body and then look around the room for something I could use as a weapon. I cross the small room and open the cabinets, browsing through them, checking over my shoulder every so often to make sure that Doctor McDonald is still asleep. If he's not faking, I'm hoping that medicine is strong enough to keep him knocked out long enough for me to do this.

Eventually I decide on a pair of scissors, it looks like the kind that they use when they take out stitches. I walk over to him slowly, and then lean down to make sure he's asleep. Right now I'm doing the thing I always hate that people do in horror movies—go and stupidly check to see if they're dead when they're so obviously not. But now that I'm actually put in the situation, I just fee like I have to, you know? It's not like he's much of a danger to me anyway—if it was a vicious serial killer than sure, I'd get the hell out of here. But come on…his name is Francis McDonald. How violent can a person be with that name?

Hesitantly, I kneel down next to Doctor McDonald and then poke him in the face. He just snorts a little. He's out cold. Not as out as he'll be in a minute….

I take a deep breath and grip the handle of the scissors tightly with both hands. I raise the scissors above my head, and then with all my strength, I bring the tip of the scissors down into his chest. It doesn't go as deep as when I use a sword, obviously—I'm sure if he was conscious he would definitely still be alive. But as blood starts to trickle from the wound I feel…satisfied. So I stab him again. And again, and again, and again. All over is chest and in his stomach, blood starting to drench his disgusting yellow dress shirt. I stab him over and over again, and then after a few minutes I feel his heart stop beating. I drop the scissors, my arms exhausted.

Then, the door opens.

Marvel stands there in the doorway, mouth agape as he takes in the scene in front of him.

"Hell, Glimmer…" he takes a few steps into the room. "I knew you hated Doctor McDonald, but I didn't think you hated him _that_ much…."

I smile sheepishly. "Well I didn't kill him just to kill him. He…tried to kill me."

Marvel's eyes widen. "What?" he walks over to me and grabs both of my bloody hands. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I got him first." I gesture to the communicuff on the doctor's wrist. "He was a rebel."

Marvel scowls. "That bastard."

I smile, but then frown. "Do you think I'll get in trouble for this?"

He raises his eyebrows at me. "For killing a rebel? Hell no, Glimmer. Besides, I think everyone's been waiting for you to finally kill someone."

I laughed, but I wasn't sure if that was a compliment or not.

"You did a good job. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you." Marvel wraps his arms around me and I do the same to him.

"It's fine, I took care of it."

"Obviously." Marvel laughs in my ear.

"What the hell?" we hear from the doorway. We pull apart and I turn around to see Clove standing in the doorway. Her mouth, like Marvel's was, is wide open. And for some reason she's holding a carton of eggs. It looks like she wants to say something but can't get it out. Then she narrows her eyes at me. "Did you do this?"

I nod.

Clove closes her mouth and slowly circles around Doctor McDonald's dead body, as if judging him. "Huh." She says after a moment, stopping at his head. "Not too shabby. 'Bout time you did something rebellious. I will miss his intriguing voice, though…."

"Who's voice?" Cato walks in then, but he doesn't gape. He simply looks at the body and then shrugs, coming over to where the rest of us are. "Sweet. This guy gave me the creeps. His voice was just so…weird."

"It was intriguing!" Clove protests. Cato snorts. "Seriously! When he talked you just kinda felt like you wanted to listen, you know?" she tries convincing us.

I roll my eyes. "He was a rebel, Clove."

Clove looks rather dejected. "Well, damn." She mumbles.

"Why are you holding a carton of eggs?" Marvel asks her.

"We were about to go egg Travie's classroom." Cato answers. "And Travie, if she was in there."

And then we see _another_ person at the door. But it's no one I recognize, and by the looks on everyone else's faces, they don't recognize him, either. The kid looks about five. He has really thin blond hair and a round, chubby face. And he just stands there.

"Um…what's your name?" I ask, trying to sound friendly.

The kid looks at the dead body and then back up to me. We all stand there, quiet, for about a minute before he finally answers. "Kip." He finally says.

"…Where did you come from?" Marvel asks. But Kip just stares at us, dumbfounded.

"KIP!" I hear from down the hall. Then Travie appears in the doorway and scoops the kid up.

"Who _is_ that?" Cato asks.

Travie whirls around. Is it just me, or does she look skinnier? "Um…no one. It's just…" then she sees Doctor McDonald's body and screams.

When she finishes screaming, Clove opens the carton and, without a word, throws an egg right in Travie's face. Cato instantly bursts out laughing, followed by Clove, then Marvel, and eventually me. Travie looks like she's about to burst into tears, and then she runs away.

"That was a good one!" Cato laughs, high-fiving Clove.

"Well…we should probably tell someone about this." I say finally.

"But who?" Marvel asks. "If Doctor McDonald was a rebel, how do we know who we can trust?"

"I _know_ we can trust Landon." Clove says.

"Well, obviously. He set this whole thing up."

"But who else?"

"For now…" Cato looks at all of us. "Ourselves, I guess."

"We should tell Landon, and he can do a…security sweep, or something." I offer.

"No need." Clove says, tapping her communicuff. I'm pretty sure she just likes showing that thing off. "There's a 'traitor' button on here. If I press it, Landon will come."

"But it's not an emergency…."

"Well he'll come anyway." Clove presses a button on the touch screen.

All of a sudden, I feel like I'm in the Games again. Everything was just starting to feel kind of…normal. But now the realization of what just happened is dawning on me. Marvel's right: who _can_ we trust? There could be more rebels right here in this hospital. How are we supposed to win if that's the case? How are we supposed to trust anyone.

"Well…what are we supposed to do?" I ask.

"I'll tell you what we're going to do." Landon says, marching into the room. "We're going to plan another attack. McDonald was the only rebel as far as I know."

"You _knew_ he was a rebel?" I ask in astonishment. "And you let him near me with a needle?"

Landon glares at me. "I was going to take care of it." He sighs. "But we have other problems. We need _more _people. People who qualify. So get ready, you four are going to the capitol to recruit tomorrow."


	12. More Reunions

**Hi everyone! Well for the last chapter I only got like two reviews…I don't want to be one of those annoying people, but that was a little depressing…*sniff sniff* ;) but I don't blame you, Glimmer just can't live up to the awesomeness as Clove. But guess what? We're almost to 50 reviews! AAAH! Thank you guys so much! I know we can get to 50 on this chapter…I'm very determined. And maybe even f you're feeling rebellious…51? :O So pretty please? **

**Clove**

I am having a horrible time. I've deemed the people in the capitol almost as bad as the people in District Twelve. They're all so prim and proper, why wouldn't Landon send us to Two or something? It's impossible to get half of these people to fight—although there are a lot who moved from the districts who are willing to come.

Surprisingly, I wasn't too unhappy with my outfit. We thankfully weren't told to die our skin and stuff as I had feared. I'm wearing distressed dark wash skinny jeans, a dark grey shirt, and my personal favorite part of the ensemble, a leather jacket. Unfortunately the accessories include ridiculously high black strappy stilettos, gaudy jewelry, and _huge_ sunglasses, but it's worth it. I hope they know I'm keeping this jacket.

Even though we've taken almost every precaution imaginable to not getting caught, they're pairing us with whoever was _not_ our fellow tribute, which was a bad decision on their part because even though Marvel and I have our moments, we still hate each others guts and I know for a fact that Glimmer annoys the hell out of Cato more often than not. Plus, it meant that we all had to endure the twenty minute long goodbye of Glimmer and Marvel.

"Be safe." Marvel told Glimmer once we got out of the car.

"I will. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you more."

"No!"

"Remember when you left me in the Games? I missed you so much it was unimaginable." At this part Cato and I had rolled our eyes because we'd heard this too many times before.

"Awww, I missed you more, even when I was dead."

"But I bet—"

"Okay, we get the point! You both missed each other more, blah blah blah, now cut the crap. We have to go." Cashmere had cut in. Cashmere and Enobaria were leaving later tonight; they were going to go farther out into the Capitol, into the areas we didn't cover.

We're to meet at this dinner place at nine thirty. It's already dark outside when we're dropped off in a neighborhood just a few blocks away from the downtown area. These houses are fricken huge, like two of the victors homes put together! I try not to gawk as we begin walking toward the bright lights that lie not too far ahead.

"Quit walking so fast." Marvel hisses at me.

"I'm _not_ walking fast." I scowl back at him.

"Uh, Clove, you are. I thought you never wore heels, I was looking forward to you falling all over the place." Marvel says with a smirk.

I roll my eyes behind my huge cherry-red sunglasses, which he couldn't see because the lenses are black. "I'm a coordinated person. And I've worn heels before." It's true. Normally if I wear heels it's some kind of boot form, and I've been particularly obsessed with ankle boots lately. This strappy kind, not as much, but these shoes could be worse. Like the ridiculous (ridiculously ugly) heels I was put in for my interviews. Thank God my feet were out of the view of the camera because those awful shoes ruined the whole outfit…which kind of ruined itself, even without the shoes. What can I say? I had a bad stylist.

Marvel just scoffs. "Whatever."

After a few more silent minutes of walking, we're in the midst of a huge city, with buildings that are so tall they touch the sky and gleam like gems. There are people walking around all over the place, one more strange looking than the next, but some are relatively normal, like us. I sigh and just hope that no one recognizes us, then I begin to walk through the crowd of people in the streets, keeping my eyes peeled for worthy people.

"I think we should look more over there, where it isn't so busy." I say, pointing a few streets away.

"Why?"  
"Because maybe people down there will be less…" I look for the right word as I look at the multi-colored people that are bustling around us. "Strange?"

Marvel sighs. "Fine, I guess."

We start walking again but hardly make it one street before Marvel stops and stares in awe up at a building.

"What?" I ask him, staring up at it as well, trying to see the magic.

"It's a Perry's!" he says, pointing to a sign with a cup of coffee that says "Perry's" in cursive lettering.

"Aaand?"

Marvel looks at me, his mouth agape. "This place is supposed to be legendary! They only have the best coffee ever! I've always wanted to try one." Marvel looks longingly at the door.

I roll my eyes, yet again. Who cares? I guess that's what you get when you're raised in District One. "Well you best keep wanting, because we have to go."

"No! Clove, come on, it'll take two seconds."

"Marvel, the line is like, a fucking _mile_ long." I say, pointing inside the glass window to show all the Capitol citizens waiting to get their late night coffee. "We're not going. And besides, we're not supposed to talk to anyone unless we want to recruit them. _Remember_?"

Marvel glares at me for a moment, then finally says, "I'm going."

I narrow my eyes at him. "Do you want me to punch you in the face? _Again_?"

Marvel raises his eyebrows. "Bring it."

I narrow my eyes at him and raise my right arm, about to sock him one right in the face when I hear the noise of a fist connecting with a face. But I didn't punch him yet. And he didn't punch me. Marvel looks confused as I lower my fist.

"What?"

"Did you hear that?"

Marvel pauses and listens. I hear shuffling and then another thud. It sounds close—if it wasn't we wouldn't be able to hear it over the din of the city. I look around me, but all the capitol citizens are still walking around like normal. Which brings the thought to my mind, are these people stupid? There's a war going on!

But then I see where it could be coming from. Only a few feet away lies an alleyway, in between two big buildings. It's dark, shaded from all the lights. I begin toward it and tug Marvel along with me. I stop and peer into the alley to see what looks like three people fighting and one on the ground. But I can't see what they look like, it's all just black shadows.

"Oh, God. Don't go in there, Clove." Marvel warns me.

I look at him, aghast. "Why the hell not?"

"We don't want to get involved!"

I sigh, wishing again that I had Cato for this situation, because he would probably march right in there without a second thought. But in District One, people actually have…consciences, I suppose.

One figure pushes another one, slamming them into the wall. The one who's doing most of the beating looks a lot smaller than the rest, and I notice they have long hair. So then I assume it's a girl, but in the Capitol, you just never know.

I'm not debating whether to go in there or not, but who I should help beat. I'm guessing the girl is winning. But I really don't know, until I hear the voice. It's just sort of a grunt of some sort, but I instantly recognize it. I recognize it because I've seen her fight before, I've even helped train her here or there. But why is she here?

"I know who's in there." I say to Marvel.

"Yeah, a bunch of idiots. Let's go." He turns to start walking away but I just march right into the alleyway instead.

As I get closer, I can see the faces more clearly, since they all turn toward me. I stop right in front of the man that's lying on the ground, then look up to the other two guys. One looked my age, the other about two years older. And then there was her. But my arrival has caused her to lose, and she was now being held in a headlock.

"You lookin' for trouble too, girlie?" The man who has the girl asks me. I notice right away that he doesn't have a capitol accent. I also notice that Marvel didn't follow me in. Baby. I hope he gets hit by a car if while he's waiting for me.

I don't answer, just pull one of the knives I have inside my jacket. Ah, it feels good to do that again. I squint at my target in the dark lighting. Then I throw the knife at the man's hand, the one that's wrapped around the girl's neck. The man yelps at instantly jumps back from her, and I take out another knife, ready to throw it at the guy who's standing off to the side, but he holds his hand up in surrender. "Don't kill me, don't kill me! I was just observing!"

I narrow my eyes at him even though he can't see it. But before I can do anything, the girl punches him hard in the face and he falls to the ground. Then, she turns to face me, confusion on her face. She narrows her sapphire blue eyes, trying to see who I am.

"Mika." I greet her.

Mika stares at me for a few more seconds.

"What, I come back from the dead to see you and you don't even say anything?" I tease her.

Mika's eyes widen as she realizes who I am. But instead of happiness or some other good emotion, she just looks fearful.

"Clove?"

"Yup."

"No."

"What do you mean no?"

Mika starts shaking her head, walking slowly backwards. "It's not really you. They're doing it again."

I frown. "What? Mika, it's really me."

"No. It's just another trick."

I take off my sunglasses, staring hard at her. "It's me. It's Clove. I promise."

She narrows her eyes at me. "Prove it."

I sigh and try to think of something off the top of m head. She's just as stubborn as her brother. I pull out the first memory I can think of. "When you were ten and I was thirteen I helped you sneak into Cato's room to steal his favorite spear. Remember? You took it when he was sleeping, then we went into the backyard to spray it pink, but since you were really bad with a spear you ended up killing the neighbor's dog. You were all broken up about it."

Mika's eyes widen again, and then they fill with a mixture of sadness and relief. "Oh, Clove! It really is you! How is it possible?"

I shake my head. "It's a long story, I'll tell you in a little bit. And _you_ need to tell _me_ how you got here! Now follow me."

Mika just nods and follows obediently. It takes me a few minutes to find Marvel in the crowd, but then I see him talking to two burly-looking guys. I hung back until he was finished. After a few minutes, I saw one guy say something, and then the other nod his head, and then Marvel caught my eye and he started walking toward us with the two guys following.

"Wasn't he…wasn't he dead, too?" Mika whispers to me hesitantly.

"I told you, I'll explain later."

"Hey." Marvel says, walking up to us. "This is Alastair," he says, gesturing to a tall, brown-haired boy who looks about eighteen, "and Hunter." He says, pointing to the other one who looks about twenty. They actually don't look like obnoxious Marvel raises his eyebrows, indicating for me to introduce my finding.

Since Mika is only fourteen, she probably doesn't look to promising, but she's muscular and in good shape, and she's handy with weapons (after all, she's grown up and 2 and learned from some of the best), and her attitude kind of reminds me of myself.

"This is Mika." I say. Marvel looks like he's about to question me, but then I continue. "Cato's sister."

Marvel's eyes widen. "Oh, uh…nice to meet you. I can see the resemblance." He says, observing Mika's similar features. The deep blue eyes, the blond hair. Mika just scowls back at him. "Yeah, she's definitely Cato's sister…" Marvel mumbles, then looks at his watch.

"We should probably get going."

We all walk through the sea of people for about another hour, talking to people who looked promising. We always tried to ease into the conversation, as not to give our identities away without reason. But we had no luck. Before we knew it, it was nine thirty.

"Well." Marvel sighs as we start toward the entrance of the dinner place we're supposed to meet at. "I guess all we can do is hope they got even less people then we did."

I sigh. "I'm sure Enobaria and Cashmere will get tons." They're allowed to show their faces, after all.

Marvel is about to reply when the giant screens that are up on most of the buildings are wiped clean of their advertisements. Everyone stops and looks up at one screen or another, since they're all over. Then, Katniss's face pops up on the screens, completely surrounding us. There are a few boos from all around, but most people just stay silent. I know there are most likely fans of her around here. I turn my attention to the screen, too, as Katniss's mouth opens and she begins to talk. Her face looks worn and tired, and a little bit afraid, not to mention very sad looking. She begins rambling on about the benefits of war to the Districts. They must have hacked the Capitol's system.

"They've captured Prim." She says suddenly, which catches my attention. "And by them, I don't just mean the Capitol." I exchange a look with Marvel, and he looks worried. "There's something you all should know. The tributes—"

Her voice is suddenly cut off and replaced by horrible static, and then President Snow's face appears on the screens. He's looking intently at the camera, but still has a tiny, tiny evil smile on his face.

"Hello, my citizens." He greets everyone. He begins to talk then about the rebels, about how they are tearing our country apart, things like that. I look around me, seeing the Capitol people staring up at the screens with their strange faces, but then I see Glimmer and Cato…and Brutus. Brutus drove us here, but he wasn't supposed to get out. Brutus gestures for me to come over there, fast.

"Come on." I mumble to Marvel and the others, and then I start walking as fast as I can through the people, who complain at me for shoving into them.

Brutus places a hand on my back and leans over, talking in my hear so I can hear him over the noise. "We need to go, now. They're not sure how long they can hold off the rebels' interferences."

Cato and Glimmer are already far ahead of us, heading back toward the neighborhoods. I look up at the screens once more and see them flash a picture of the bloody Primrose, only for about a second. But then the screen flickers once again and Katniss is there again. She looks as if she has tears in her eyes, she probably saw the picture of her sister. "I don't have much time, so I will only say this." She takes a step closer to the camera. "You may have our family and friends locked up, but I know they're strong. You're only wasting your own time and energy, because we will never surrender."

This would've been more convincing if her voice didn't shake at the end.

Maybe the part about her friends was true. But her sister was a lot weaker than everyone thought.


	13. Fight!

**Hi everyone! Thanks SO much for getting me to 50 reviews! :D I hope you like this chapter! I feel like there's been a lack of Cato, so I decided to put him into most this chapter. And just a warning, this is a long one! **

When we got back to the hospital, I was thinking that Mika and Cato would have a happy little reunion….I was quite wrong.

"I'll let you all catch up. Be at training by eight o'clock tomorrow morning." Landon had told us after we showed him the new people. Enobaria and Cashmere had come back a few hours later with more adults.

After we said goodnight to Glimmer and Marvel, I walked with Cato and Mika since all our rooms were right next to each other. We all walked in silence, and I don't know about the others, but I was tired beyond belief. So when I got to my door I went to bed with little more than a "Goodnight" to each of them. I fell asleep the second my head hit the pillow.

Unfortunately, about two and a half hours later, I woke to the sound of banging. And then there was a crash. More banging, and another crash. I rubbed my eyes and looked at the clock; 3:47. What the hell is going on? I sigh and push the covers off of me, swinging my legs over the side of the couch and stomping to the door, ready to punch someone in the face for making this much noise while I was trying to sleep.

I stepped out into the hallway, which was more dimly lit than usual. There was only a light on around the corner, but that pretty much illuminated the hallway. On the other end, an exit sign glowed red, giving that end sort of a creepy feel.

I stood there for a moment, but the sounds had stopped. Just as I was about to turn to go back into my room, I heard another loud bang. It was coming from the room directly across from my room, Cato's. I sigh and cross the hallway, banging loudly on his door. There is no answer. I knock again, even louder this time, and I hear shuffling in the room. Then, a moment later, the door swings open.

I feel a grimace come over my face as I look at him. His blond hair is a horrible mess, his deep blue eyes can't seem to focus. He has a black eye, and a few cuts on his chest, which I now notice is bare. He's gripping a beer bottle in his right hand.

"What the hell are you doing in here, Cato?"

Cato squints, as if trying to see me from thousands of feet away. "What?"

"What. The _hell_. Are you doing in here?"

He sniffs. "I was…drinking…."

I roll my eyes. "Obviously. Move, I'm coming in."

"No!"

I raise my eyebrows. "Why not?"

"I didn't…clean for you, Martha…"

I scowl at him. I put a hand on his chest and shove him, and I can tell his balance is off because he stumbles back. I survey his room. It's set up exactly identical to mine, only his walls are a tan color instead of white, like mine, and the furniture is different. And it's a _mess_. I mean, so is mine, but he really trashed the place. Over by the mini kitchen, glass is shattered all over the floor from what looks like plates, beer bottles, and who knows what else. His shirt has been discarded on the middle of the floor, and it looks like it's torn. There are things all over the floor, including a knife, witch should probably not be in possession of a drunk person. I look at the floor by the corner of the room, the one where a recliner chair once was but was now placed upside-down in the middle of the room, and see at _least_ fifteen empty bottles on the floor.

"Oh my God, Cato. How much have you drank?"

Cato narrows his eyes at me. "Enough."

I roll my eyes. He's a snarky drunk, is he? "Where did you even get this?"

"Don't worry about it."

I narrow my eyes at him. "Cato, if you don't tell me I swear I will beat you."

Cato just scoffs, makes an unpleasant face, and then stumbles over to his kitchen area, crunching the broken glass with his feet. I sigh and pull him out of the danger zone, and he stumbles backwards and trips in the process. I sigh, grab what appears to be the last full beer bottle off of his mini fridge, and knock it hard against his head. The glass shatters on impact, open a few cuts and sending alcohol gushing across his face. Cato squeezes his eyes shut and holds up his hands to block me from hitting him again.

After he rubs the beer from his eyes, he looks up at me. "What was that for?"

"I told you I'd beat you." I yank him off the floor—which is a lot harder than you would think.

He sighs. "Well, I went into the kitchen to get something cold for my face, and I found the beers in there. I took a sip of one, and then I thought, why not get drunk? So I took all of them and drank 'em."

It takes him about five minutes to say this sentence because he keeps slurring.

"What happened to your eye?" I ask him, touching the bruised skin. He flinches away at my touch.

"Mika hit me." He confesses.

"Mika hit you?" I ask him incredulously, raising my eyebrows. "Hard enough to give you _that_? Why?" I thought Mika would be happy to see that her brother was alive. But judging by the greenish-purple color that was underneath his swelling eye, "happy" probably wasn't the right emotion.

Cato squints, looking like he's trying to recall a memory. "I can't remember."

I sigh. "Okay. Well, tell me tomorrow then, when you're sober…and clothed." I say, gesturing to his shirtless body.

Cato puts on a sloppy grin. "What, you don't like my body?" he slurs. He flexes his arms, which I am not going to lie are quite muscular.

I roll my eyes. "Go to bed, Cato."

"Okay." He trips numerous times on the way to the couch across the room, and I don't bother helping him. When he gets to the couch, he stands on it, jumping up and down. "Clove! Watch this!" And then he jumps right into the wall with a loud _smack!_ Really, his face _slams _into the wall. I double over laughing as he falls backwards off the couch, his stomach hitting the corner of the table hard as he came down, blood gushing from his nose.

"Oh my God!" I choke out after my laughing fit is finished. Cato is laying on the ground, groaning.

"Could you get me some ice?" he moans.

I roll my eyes. "Don't be such a baby."

"Please?"

I sigh. "Fine. But then I'm going to bed, no matter how bad you hurt yourself!"

Cato groans. "I think I broke my ribs!"

I walk over to him and kick his side. He groans louder. "Oh, you're fine. I'll be right back."

I step outside into the hallway, closing the door as quietly as possible behind me. I tip-toe all the way down the stairs to the second floor, where the kitchen is. I root through the freezer and take out a bag of ice, but as I'm trying to leave I trip. Yes, I trip over my own two feet. I'm tired and it's dark, okay! The ice goes sprawling out on the floor, along with me. Which makes a very loud noise.

I hear footsteps.

"Shit!" I whisper to myself. I'm gonna get a wa'fer* for sure. The lights flick on. I stay there, laying behind the counter on my stomach, hoping that no one will notice me.

Yeah, right.

"Hello?" a female voice calls. It's unfamiliar to me. Tentatively, I sit up and slowly raise my head above the counter top.

The lady looks to be in her early twenties. She has long, straight, dark brown hair and big, ice blue eyes. She looks at me in confusion, but I'm sure the expression on my face is the same.

"Who the hell are you?" I scowl at her.

"I would say the same to you, but I know perfectly well who you are. You're Clove."

I roll my eyes and stand up. "Thank you, captain obvious."

The lady sighs and shakes her head. "You're exactly like how my cousin described you."

I raise an eyebrow. "Cousin?"

"Oh." She smiles. I'm not loving her bubbly attitude. Who does this remind me of…? "I'm Glimmer's cousin, Allie Boyd."

Ooooh. That explains it. "Oh. Okay. Well…why are you here?"

"I'm the new head doctor here, and I'm going to help with training." Allie beams at me. "Now, if I may ask…what are you doing down here at four in the morning?"

I glare at her. "Actually, you may _not_ ask."

Allie looks taken aback, but then someone appears behind her.

"But _I _can ask. What are you doing down here, Clove?" It's Felix, our head trainer. Felix is also in his early twenties. He's quite large, tall and muscle-y.

"I was…um…"

Felix steps closer to me and sniffs in.

_Crap._ I probably smell like beer.

"Why do you smell like beer?" he asks me. "Were you drinking, Clove? At four in the morning?" he sounds angry.

"No! I wasn't. I…"

Felix raises his eyebrows, waiting for an explanation. I didn't really want to rat Cato out, but you know what they say…it's a cat eat medium-sized horse world.

Wait…for some reason, I feel like that's not the exact saying. I need to go to bed.

"It's Cato. He's drunk beyond belief, and he hurt himself, so I came to get him some ice."

He looks a little skeptical of my explanation. "Alright…I guess we should go check up on Cato then, shouldn't we?"

I pick up the bag of ice and follow him out of the room, and to my irritation, I hear Allie following behind me. We all walk all the way up to Cato's room. I open the door to see Cato still lying in the same spot on the floor.

He fell asleep. No way.

"Oh, Jesus." Felix sighs as he steps into the room, looking around. Then he sees Cato in a bloody, shirtless heap on the floor and he sighs deeper.

"I'll go get something to help get the swelling in his eye down." Allie says, then rushes out of the room as Felix tries to wake Cato up.

"Go to bed, Clove. I appreciate your trying to help, but don't think this'll get you out of training tomorrow."

"What if I just don't show up?" I taunt him.

He turns around to look at me. "Maybe I should consult with Landon?"

I sigh. "Okay, fine, I'm going!"

I go back into my room and lay down, but it takes me a little while to get back to sleep. Eventually, I do, but it only seems like a few minutes later when my alarm clock goes off.

This time when I open my eyes, sunlight is streaming through the ugly white blinds of my room. The clock says seven forty-five. I sigh, and after a few minutes, haul myself out of bed with the motivation of being able to know this morning will be a lot tougher for Cato than it will be for me.

I just leave on the shorts and cami that I'm wearing, because that's pretty much what I wear to training, anyway. I walk lazily out of my room and then knock on Cato's door. To my surprise, the door opens just a second later.

Cato is standing in the doorway, looking a hell of a lot better than he did last night. His black eye looks almost completely healed and there's not a speck of blood to be seen on him, but he looks…clean. And, he's clothed.

"Hey." Cato greets me like normal.

"Hey?" I repeat. "Hey!"

Cato looks confused. "What?"

"You drag me out of bed at three o'clock in the morning, trash your room, break your nose, fall off a couch, break some crap, have me go down to get you ice, get me in _trouble_, all because _you_ decided to get drunk off your ass and all I get is a HEY?"

Cato frowns. "Um…sorry." He then moves his hand behind his back, quickly.

I narrow my eyes. "What do you have in your hand."

"Nothing." He looks like a little kid who got caught taking a cookie before dinner.

"Cato." I warn him. "Need I remind you when I smashed a bottle over your head last night?" I point to the three faint scars on his forehead.

"I don't remember any of that…"

I roll my eyes. "Of course you don't. Now what's behind your back?" Before he can answer I reach behind him and grab his wrist, yanking it toward me so I can see what he's holding.

It's a beer.

"Cato!" I hit the bottle out of his hand and it shatters on the linoleum floor.

"Hey, people just cleaned that up!" he scolds me.

I narrow my eyes at him. "You're drinking at eight o'clock in the morning? Seriously, Cato! We don't need you becoming a drunk!"

Cato sighs. "Alright, alright! Relax, I only wanted one. I won't drink anymore, promise."

"You better not." I sigh. "Now that you're normal…speaking of normal, I expected you to be really hung-over. I'm a bit disappointed."

Cato rolls his eyes. "They gave me some of their crazy capitol shit. They had me eat a hamburger with it, and I felt perfectly normal by the time I woke up."

"Okay. Well now you can answer me, then. Why did Mika hit you?"

Cato sighs, leaning against the door frame and running a hand through his hair. "She was pissed that I volunteered for the Games. Really pissed. I don't blame her though, I felt terrible for leaving her. She had to live with that awful Aunt of ours. Remember her?"

I shudder. How could I not? Their Aunt was pretty senile…except when anyone was up to trouble. She was mean, old, and cranky, and no one was a fan of her. I just nod.

"Well…I think it was hard for her. Seeing how I died…." Cato trails off.

I nod. "It was even hard for me to watch."

"Exactly. So she was pissed at me for leaving, and now that she knows I'm safe…well, she's even more pissed that I didn't tell her."

"Didn't you explain that we weren't allowed to talk to anyone?"

"I tried. And that's when I got this." He pointed to his almost-healed black eye.

"I'm sure she'll just be happy your alive soon." I reassure him.

"Um, have you met Mika?" Cato scoffs. "She holds grudges longer than you do." I frown, trying to figure out if I should be offended by that or not. "And she's not too happy with you, either."

This shocks me. "Why? She seemed perfectly happy to see me."

"Well, yeah, but she's not mad at you. You didn't promise her you'd come back. And that's another reason why she's mad, that I volunteered for the Games after you were picked. She knew we wouldn't both come out alive. And she may love me, but she _idolizes_ you. You know what she said to me when she came to say goodbye? 'Don't kill Clove'."

I tried not to smile. "Well…that's…horrible." I try to say honestly.

Cato rolls his eyes. "Don't act so surprise at her adoration of you. You were the best knife-handler in District Two…too bad you got hit in the head with a rock. You could've made it big." He smirks.

I narrow my eyes and push him playfully. "Shut up. You didn't seem so easy-going about it while you were kneeling by my side, crying for me to come back as I was on my death bed."

This time Cato narrows his eyes. "Shut up." He mumbles. "Come on, we'll be late for training."

When we get down to the training room, we join Glimmer and Marvel. Marvel is telling some story about Travie to Guam, the victor of the 67th Games.

"—said that when he went into Travie's room, there were notes all over her wall that said 'Travie, your fat; Travie, you're ugly'."

Guam laughed. "Seriously! Why?"

"I guess she's trying to lose weight or something!"

I laughed and Glimmer turned around. "You are a heartless person."

"Oh, come on. You can't tell me that's not hilarious!"

Glimmer smiles ruefully. "Okay, I guess it is pretty funny."

We all have to go the main floor then as Felix comes out, followed by Allie. Great. She waves to Glimmer, and Glimmer waves back with enthusiasm.

"Everyone, this is one of your new trainers." Felix announces. "I'll let you introduce yourself." He steps off to the side, giving the floor to Allie.

"Hi everyone, I'm Allie Boyd, but you can call me The Boyd. I used to be a peacekeeper in District One, and that's what everyone called me there." I try to keep from laughing. The Boyd? Oh no, here comes The Boyd! And I could never picture this girl as a peacekeeper. She's too…happy. "I quit, because I wasn't fond of the job, but I'd still love to help you guys fight against the rebels."

"Um, what experiences to you have in battle?" Cato interrupts.

Allie—I mean, "The Boyd"—turns her attention to Cato. "I've faced down armies before." She says, her face suddenly serious. Is it just me, or did she have a faint accent when she said that? Probably just the lack of sleep taking over.

Cato nods.

"I must say, I liked your neck-snapping abilities in the Games. Would you like to come up and demonstrate?"

Cato raises his eyebrows. "I'm pretty sure everyone knows how to snap a neck."

By the looks he got, it was apparent that a lot of people actually did not know how to snap a neck.

"Okay, sure…" Cato stands up and walks over to Allie's side.

The Boyd surveys the bunch of us. "Uuuh…Marvel. Come on up here and help Cato demonstrate."

Marvel's eyes widen. "You mean you want me to play the victim? Willingly put my neck into snapping position for him? Hell no! He'll actually kill me!"

The Boyd sighs. "No, he will not."

"Oh, he will. Get someone else." Marvel says, and then he gestures not so subtly to me.

The Boyd's eyes follow his gestures to me. "Clove. Perfect. He wouldn't kill you, would he?"

I narrow my eyes. "That depends."

"Oh, just get up here, Clove!" Felix snaps. I can tell he's cranky and tired. Baby. He was only up for what, twenty minutes?

"Fine." I grumble, and then get up and stand in front of Cato.

"Go ahead." The Boyd says.

"Okay…" Cato's left arm is suddenly wrapped around my neck. "Obviously, you would hold tighter than this, but this is what you do." Then he puts his right hand on the side of my jaw. "Then from here you would just yank as hard as possible."

The Boyd smiles. "Great. You can go sit down." I start to follow Cato back to my spot. "Clove, wait here. I saw some interesting techniques you used during training, and also during the Games. Care to show us?"

"Not really." I continue walking.

"Marvel, come up and be her example."

I stop short, smiling. "Yeah, Marvel. Come be my example."

"What?" Marvel whines. "She'll kill me even more painfully!"

"Marvel!" Felix snaps. "Go up there. I promise that if Clove kills you, she will be severely punished."

Marvel sighs, squeezes Glimmer's hand once, and then walks angrily to the front of the room, where I smirk at him.

"Why don't you show us some defense moves, Clove?" The Boyd suggests.

"Okay." I don't know if this is her way to try and get me to like her, but for now, it's working.

"Well." I begin. "If anyone's ever attacking you, there are two things that will probably help you the most. Number one." I grip Marvel's upper right ear tightly in my hand, but he slaps my arm off.

"Don't touch me." He snarls.

I narrow my eyes at him.

"Marvel, let her show what she's going to show! And Clove, try not to actually hurt him." Felix demands.

I grip Marvel's ear again and put my other hand on the side of his face, which he glares at me for. "Grip your attacker's ear as tightly as you can. Then, with all your strength, pull towards their jaw while holding their head in place with your other hand. If you do it correctly and with enough strength, you'll pull the side of their face clean off."

Glimmer gasps. "Really? You've done this before, haven't you, Clove?"

I shrug. "Once or twice."

"Very nice, Clove. One more?" The Boyd says.

I smile a smile that's more like a smirk and look at Marvel, who is still glaring at me. "Of course. This one is a little easier. Just go like this," I place my thumbs in Marvel's eyes, just where the eyelid folds, and press a little bit, "and sort of scoop inward. You'll be able to gauge their eyes out." I add a little more pressure than necessary for an example.

Marvel grabs my wrists tightly, so tightly that it hurts, and yanks them away from his face. "I think they get it, Clove." He says to me through clenched teeth.

I narrow my eyes at him and try to yank my wrists away from Marvel, but he has too tight of a grip for me to break. "What a shame, Marvel, I thought we were trying to make amends to our friendship?"

Marvel glares at me. "I would never want to be friends with you."

"But I've been nothing but nice to you, even in the Games!" I say sarcastically, fake innocence dripping from my voice.

"Nice?" Marvel sneers. "You don't have a nice bone in your body."

I raise my eyebrows. "You're probably right."

Marvel's grip on my wrists tighten, he's holding me with so much strength that I feel as if my wrists are shattering. I think Felix must've noticed, because he tries to say something. "Okay, guys, that's enough…." But no one else is trying to stop us. The Boyd has stepped aside, watching us with interest. Most tributes had already gone off to training, but some were watching us now. Glimmer and Cato remained seated on the floor with a few others.

"I _am _right. You left Glimmer to die, Clove. You tripped her, don't think nobody saw it. Because I did. I tell her everyday that she's making a mistake for being friends with you—"

"Marvel!" Glimmer interrupts, standing up. "That's not true. Clove didn't—"

"Stay out of this, Glimmer, I _know_ what I _saw_!" Marvel raises his voice and Glimmer is quieted.

"Then why didn't _you_ save her then, Mister Macho Man? No one was stopping you from going back there and dying with her!" I spat at him, trying to ignore the ever growing pain in my wrists.

A few emotions cross his face. Sadness, regret, fury. "She told me to win for her. She told me that I would last longer, and that no matter what, to win." His voice is quiet now.

"Awww. How sweet. But that doesn't mean you had to leave her for dead."

"I tried, okay?" Marvel yells in my face. He opens his mouth like he's about to speak, but then he closes it and, before I can register what he's doing, he let's go of my right wrist, twists me around, places his other hand on my left elbow, and presses hard. It was so quick that I didn't realize what he had done until about a second after I heard the _crack!_

"Marvel!" I heard Glimmer shriek.

I gasped as pain splintered my left arm. I spun around to face him, trying to ignore the horrible pain in my left arm, and I punched him square in his smirking face. He tripped and fell backward over a mat. I took the opportunity of him being down to look for a weapon. Less than two feet away was a table full of knives. _Perfect_. I grabbed the first one I could get and then dove back to Marvel, pushing him back to the ground as he was about to get up again. I kept my hand on his chest, but when he saw the knife in my hand his eyes widened and he lifted his legs up, kicking me in the side of the head. Right in my temple. I managed to stab where he was laying before the white hot pain exploded through my head, but I didn't feel the knife going through his chest. Instead, it felt it skim the side of his arm, then go straight through the mat.

I felt Felix grab me from behind, but I wasn't ready yet. I wouldn't leave more injured than Marvel. Even though my vision was incredibly foggy, I yanked myself from Felix's grasp and dove at Marvel, knife raised. He wasn't ready, though, he thought I had been held back. He was facing away from me.

"Clove!" This time Glimmer shrieked my name, and I think Felix yelled it, too. Marvel turned partially, making me miss my target—the small of his back—but I drove the knife deep into his shoulder and heard him yell out in pain.

"Clove!" I heard my name being yelled again, but I fell to the ground as the pain in my head became too much and I blacked out.


	14. MORE Fights

**Ok, this one isn't as long as my last chapter, but it's still pretty long. And I don't think it's as good…but I just liked the fight in my last chapter. I love fights… :) Well anyway, how awesome am I for updating so soon? You're welcome! And I promise something exciting will happen soon! I'm just figuring out how to build up to it….so bear with me, okay? ;)**

I wake up in my old hospital room, the one I first woke up in when they revived me. Nothing has changed, I see; the plain, depressing white décor and stainless steel tools making me feel like I'm in a giant refrigerator. I move my arm to feel my throbbing head and wince as I remember it's broken.

I'm going to kill that bastard.

My head hurts almost as bad as when I first came out of the Games. And, much like before, the door opens. But it's not Doctor McDonald who walks through this time, its The Boyd, followed by Enobaria.

"Oh, thank God you're awake." Enobaria rushes toward me. "I talked to Cashmere and Gloss but they're angrier at us then we are at them, I think. I swear to God, I'm going to kill that boy if this affects your training in any way…"

"Okay, Enobaria, give her some time. She just woke up." The Boyd says, stepping up next to Enobaria. She's wearing a white pinstriped pantsuit with a white doctor's coat over it. Not exactly the best fashion.

"She is _my_ tribute. I can ask her whatever I want as soon as I want." Enobaria snarls.

Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

I sit up—well, as much as I can without passing out again from the pain—and clear my dry throat. "How long have I been out?" I ask.

"It was about to be four days, if you stayed asleep a few hours longer." The Boyd informs me.

"And what about…Marvel?" I ask, a wave of fury crashing over me just speaking his name. "Is he worse than me?"

The Boyd sighs. "Well, in terms of physical injury, I would say yes. He's very beat up. Marvel has a few broken ribs, and the cut on his arm is deeper than I had thought. And his shoulder…he can barely move his left arm. The stab was deep." I try to hide my confusion. How did he get broken ribs? I never really hurt him, except for the stabbing…. "Although I'm not happy about this whole thing, I must say that was a great stab. I'm sure that if he had not moved, you would have damaged the nervous system severely, thank God you didn't. He would be paralyzed in half of his body. Unfortunately, you did hit a nerve, but it's only a little severed. I expect it to heal within two weeks maximum, though.

"You, however…" the Boyd sighs, once again. "With the advanced medicine of the capitol, your broken arm should be healed by the end of the week. But your head….Well, let's just say that we're very lucky that kick didn't kill you. Marvel kicked you in the exact spot you were hit in the arena. That was very, very dangerous. We thought you…."

"We thought you wouldn't wake up." Enobaria finishes. "All thanks to Marvel, you could've been dead. Forever this time. Do you know how badly our army would be set back if we lost you, Clove? I think that little shit deserves way more than the punishment their giving—"

"Enobaria, please. That's enough." The Boyd cuts in.

Enobaria turns so that she's facing The Boyd. "Listen, _Boyd._ Don't tell me what to do." She spits. "This is all _your_ precious little niece's fault. If she wasn't such a _prissy_ in the arena, she wouldn't have been dead, and Marvel wouldn't have had anything to bitch about!"

The Boyd looks furious, but she doesn't say anything. Enobaria continues.

"You know what? Landon wanted us to make an attack this week. And thanks to _Marvel_, they res will have to go without the four of them. Thank God we have more people stationed elsewhere. We're already running out of time. Clove, Cato, Glimmer, and Marvel were supposed to make their appearances this week, and we have no idea how everyone will react. Do you think we can do that with half of them seriously injured?"

The Boyd looks like she's about to say something, but Enobaria goes on anyway. "And you know what else? District One has never had the strongest tributes. But these two are _by far_ the _weakest_ I have seen in a long, long time. We would be better off without Glimmer and Marvel being revived! It was just a waste of money and time! They are totally, completely _useless_! If they don't die the second we start battle, I'll kill them myself!" Enobaria yells at the Boyd.

The Boyd looks indescribably angry. She opens her mouth to say something, but then closes it again. After a moment, she takes out a bottle of pills from her coat pocket and slams them down hard on my bedside table. "Take one every four hours." She tells me through clenched teeth. Then, she spins on her heel and slams the door behind her.

Enobaria sighs angrily and leans back against the table, putting her hands to her temples and closing her eyes. I don't say anything for I fear she'll rip my throat out. Literally, since she's been known to do that. But then Enobaria speaks. "Clove, promise me something."

"What?"

"If you ever get the chance to kill that bastard, do it without a second thought."

"Which one?"

"All of them." Enobaria opens her silver eyes and looks at me. "Get some rest." And with that, she gets up and walks out of my room.

I sigh and lean back against my pillow, picking at my bulky cast. I don't need this crap on my arm, it'll heal fine with the medicine. After a few minutes, though, I decide it's impossible to get the thing off and I give up, surrendering myself to complete boredom.

I would just leave, but unfortunately I can barely bring myself to sit upright without the support of the pillow. It's like I'm starting from square one all over again. I hate Marvel for doing this to me. It's like I'm paralyzed. I hate him, I hate him, I hate him. I pass the time for the next few minutes by imagining all different kinds of deaths I could arrange for Marvel, plans to torture him. I'm smiling to myself when my door clicks open.

Glimmer steps in. She looks like hell, with dark circles under her normally lively green eyes and her long ringlets pulled back into a messy bun. I've never seen Glimmer step out of her bedroom without some extravagant outfit on, but today she's only wearing shorts and an oversized t-shirt that looks like it belongs to Marvel.

Glimmer's neutral expression changes to one of sadness, and then almost to disgust when she sees me. "Oh. You're awake." She states plainly, surveying me with her tired eyes.

"Um…yeah." I say.

"Good." She closes the door behind her and leans against it for a moment before walking closer to me, standing about a foot away from my bed. "I just wanted to let you know that they're punishing Marvel. In a way that I strongly disagree with."

I raise my eyebrows, feeling better already. If Glimmer disagrees with it, it's gotta be good. "How?"

Glimmer looks around, as if something is going to pop out at her. "Well…they put him into one of those places you were in a while ago. Like the crazy rooms. But he told me it's not just sitting in a room. He said it's…worse."

"How?" I think. What could they possibly be doing to Marvel?

"I don't know, he said he couldn't tell me, and no one else will, either. But Landon is _not _happy. They're going to punish you, too." Glimmer says. I can't help but notice that she doesn't sound sympathetic when she says that last sentence, like she usually would, but almost…satisfied.

"The same way Marvel's being punished?"

"Probably." Then she looks away and mumbles something that I didn't catch.

"What?"

"I said, hopefully worse." She stares at me icily, her exhausted face stone-like.

I frown. "Glimmer, are you mad at me? For defending myself? It's not like I _wanted _to start a fight—"

"Oh, you _always_ want to start a fight, Clove." Glimmer interrupts me. I don't protest, because this is true.

"Well, so what? He had it coming to him. I wasn't _planning_ on starting a fight."

"But you were egging him on. You wanted to, Clove, and you know it. So you did, and where did it get you? In a hospital bed and in a ton of trouble."

"It was worth it." I mumble, looking away from her.

"Clove, you almost _killed_ him! And not to mention you almost killed yourself in the process, too! You were really about to stab him. Over a silly fight. Marvel is like that sometimes, too. I just don't get why we all take lives when it's unnecessary! In the Games I'm fine with it; it's how you survive, obviously. But killing people who are supposed to be your allies just for _fun_?" Glimmer shakes her head, looking disgusted.

I narrow my eyes at her. "If you're trying to get me to apologize, or stop killing people or something like that, it's not going to happen. Also, I don't think I should be preached to by the one who brutally murdered an innocent doctor!"

"He was a rebel!" Glimmer protests. "It needed to be done."

"Look, Glimmer. I know Marvel is your boyfriend and crap, but I hate him."

"I know you do. I was in the Hunger Games with you, and for the big part of it that I wasn't, I watched on tape. I saw you and Marvel bicker every five seconds. I saw your fist fights, your little quarrels. But can't you just put it behind you?"

"Clove doesn't put anything behind her." Cato says from the door. I hadn't noticed he was there; he must have just come in. He closes the door and crosses over to my bed, standing closer to me than Glimmer was.

"Are you okay?" he asks me. His face looks grim and determined; a look I haven't seen since we were in the arena.

"I'm fine." I answer back, sighing.

"Oh, shit, Clove. Your head." He touches the mark where Marvel kicked me. "They told me…that you might've died, and I kind of…well…."

"Oh yeah, that's the other thing I wanted to tell you about." Glimmer says, her voice sober. "Cato sort of…beat up Marvel."

I feel myself smile. "Really?"

"Yeah." Cato smiles modestly. "I only broke six ribs and gave him some bruises, but I couldn't let him get away with doing that to you, the bastard."

Glimmer cleared her throat, as if to remind us she was right there.

"That's the third time today that I've heard Marvel called a bastard." I say, smiling. "Thanks, Cato. Since obviously I couldn't finish the job…"

"You are heartless people!" Glimmer frowns, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Aw, come on, Glimmer…couldn't you find it in your heart to forgive us?" I ask her with fake politeness.

"Yeah, I mean, we _did_ support you all throughout the Games…well, the whole week you were there." Cato smirks.

Glimmer glares at us, and I must admit it's a little frightening. She looks between the two of us, her voice quiet and completely sincere. "What Marvel and Clove were talking about when they were fighting really got me thinking. You never thought of me as a contender in those Games, did you?"

Cato scoffs. "We didn't think of anyone as a contender in the Games."

Glimmer rolls her eyes. "But you never even thought I had a chance of winning. All because Cashmere made me play the ditzy blonde. You guys put me through tough times in the Hunger Games."

"Newsflash, Glimmer. We all went through tough times in the Games. And you know what they say…what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." I tell her.

Glimmer looks horrified. "It _did_ kill me!"

I frown. "Oh yeah. Well maybe it still applies…"

Glimmer scoffs and shakes her head. "Honestly? I don't think I can ever forgive you. Not completely. Even if I tell myself to, I just can't. And if I'm _really_ honest with myself, I would say that sometimes I wish they never revived you. Especially after what just happened."

Cato turns his attention to Glimmer, that serious look on his face again. "What?"

Glimmer looks scared for a moment, but then she holds her head up and stands firm. "I said I would have been better off you two weren't revived."

Oh, if only I could stand. But the tension in the room alone was almost making me pass out again.

Cato takes a step toward Glimmer. "Do you want to end up in the hospital room with your boyfriend? Because I can make it happen in a second." he hisses. "I deserved to win those Games. I almost did. So did Clove. But you and Marvel?" he shakes his head, laughs. "You didn't stand a chance. Never did."

"Oh, really?"

"Really."

Glimmer narrows her eyes. Then, so quick I almost don't see it happen, her fist goes toward Cato's face. But Cato is quicker and catches her fist in his own before it makes contact with his face. Taking advantage of the dangerous hold he has on her, Cato spins Glimmer around so that she's facing away from him, positioned to break her arm. Much like the situation I was in with Marvel just the other day.

"Do you _really_ want to start a fight with me?" Cato hisses into Glimmer's ear. Just as Glimmer is about to reply, my door clicks open, once again. This time, Felix steps in, followed by Cashmere.

Cashmere gasps the second they walk into the room to see Cato about to break Glimmer's arm.

"Cato!" Felix crosses over to them quickly and pulls the two apart forcefully. "This has got to stop, you guys! I just come in here to talk to Clove about not fighting, and what do I walk in on? A fight!" Felix sighs and puts a hand on his forehead. "I don't know what is with you kids, but it needs to stop."

Cashmere is now standing protectively by Glimmer, and Cato is back at my bedside. "I wasn't actually going to break her arm." Cato mumbles.

"I don't care!" Felix sighs. Then he looks to Cashmere. "Go get him."

Cashmere nods, looking a little nervous. She walks out of the room, only to reappear a minute later with a very beat up blonde boy in tow. His right arm is in a sling, and he's got a bruise on his jaw line, but that's all I can see.

Marvel's eyes instantly narrow as they find me, and mine narrow right back. "You woke up?" he asks, disappointment shielded with his fury.

I don't answer him. But I smirk when I see that Marvel backs off a little, noticing Cato right beside me. I see Cato smirk, too.

Marvel instantly goes to Glimmer's side and wraps an arm around her. Felix sighs. "Alright, everyone…wait, we need Enobaria." He walks toward the door but Enobaria steps through it that second anyway, closing it behind her. "I'm here." She says, going to stand at the foot of my bed, against the wall.

Felix sighs. "Okay. You're all here because Landon wanted me to talk to you about this…behavior of yours. I understand that as former tributes, tensions may still be high. But that does not mean you can go around stabbing people." He says with a pointed look at me. "Clove, you started this—"

"Clove did not start this." Enobaria interrupts. "She did not start anything. She was defending herself. Marvel brought the examples a little too far, and Clove had every right to fight back."

Felix sighs. "Yes, I know, Enobaria. But that's not the point. The point is that they shouldn't be fighting at all in general. If it's a drill in training, that's fine, obviously. But Landon is not going to tolerate any more of this. We're going to take action soon, and we can't do that if we have some of our best people in hospital beds. Alright?"

No one responds.

Felix sighs. "_Alright_?" he repeats.

"Alright." A few of us mutter.

"Good. I'm going to bed. Stay out of trouble…."

I notice Glimmer whispering something to Marvel as Felix makes his way out of the room, followed by Cashmere. Then Marvel's eyes move to Cato's face, and he scowls.

"Why did you touch her?" Marvel snarls at Cato.

Cato just shrugs. "She was being a bitch."

Marvel's eyes widen with fury and he storms toward Cato, shoving him with his only good hand. I shrink back into my uncomfortable hospital bed, silently praying that no one would come near me because I think if I was so much as poked I would pass out. I look to Enobaria, but she's just watching the scene go down with an amused look on her face. When she sees me looking, she hands me a Jell-o cup. "I was supposed to give this to you." She explains. "Sorry if it tastes like crap."

Marvel throws a punch at Cato's cheek, and he hits it. Cato puts a hand to his face, scowling at Marvel with a look of death on his face. Cato grabs Marvel by the shirt then and practically throws him across the room, and he smashes into my bedside table. I scoot a little closer to the wall, eating my Jell-o peacefully and watching the fight.

Dinner and a show, how nice.

I hear Marvel yelp. He doesn't even get up. I can't see Marvel anymore but I _can _see Cato, and he has a victorious smile on his face. Glimmer runs out into the hallway, probably to get Felix.

I cautiously peer over my bed and smile when I see Marvel sprawled out on the floor next to it. Blood is pouring from his right arm, the one that's already kind of paralyzed from my stab.

"Nice, Cato." Enobaria congratulates. "But you should probably clean that up, before—"

"THAT'S IT!" Felix yells.

Good thing I'm half dead over here. Hopefully I'll be spared from the wrath of Felix….


	15. Warnings

**Thanks so much for all the awesome reviews! I love them! :D And yes, they are actually going to do something productive in the next chapter, I promise. :)**

It's been three days since the little incident. Well, there's been lots of "little incidents" lately. I mean the one with Cato and Marvel in my hospital room and the speech from Felix and stuff.

Now that I can finally stand up without seeing stars, Enobaria said she wants to talk to me as soon as possible. So, I'm on my way to meet her right now. The halls are very empty, much more so than usual. It's been pretty tense around here ever since the fight between me and Marvel. And judging by how Enobaria sounded when she told me to meet her in an hour, things weren't about to get any better.

I crack open the door to Enobaria's room, knocking softly. It's much bigger than mine, but has basically the same idea. She has her own bathroom, though. I never understood why they gave us mini bars, but no bathroom. Does that make any sense at all? No.

"Enobaria?" I call.

"Clove?" She comes out of a room from around the corner that I hadn't realized was there. Her face looks solemn. "Oh, good. Sit down."

I obey her and take a seat in one of the plush white chairs. She closes the door all the way and then comes to sit down in the chair across from me. She sighs. "Look, Clove. Marvel's arm is healing a lot…slower than they thought it would."

"Is he going to be paralyzed forever?" I ask hopefully.

"Well, no, but he'll still be sort of…gimpy for a few more weeks. And they're really pissed about it. And your head."

I nod. I already knew this.

Enobaria sighs again. "Clove, you know that they're already stressed about showing you to the rest of Panem."

I nod again. Though most citizens would probably be impressed, particularly in the Capitol, there were so many things that could go wrong by telling everyone we're alive. People across Panem would be even more infuriated with the Capitol. They'll be angry that their children weren't revived, or think they might be being hidden somewhere. And that, of course, would lead to more rebellion. There will most likely be suspicions of the Games being staged. They'll start to question the point of the Hunger Games. What's the point of watching their children die if they'll be brought back to life anyway? They might not believe that this is the first time it happened, or that this is a one-time thing. We were explained all of this.

"Well, now they're starting to get a little nervous themselves. The doctors and scientists, I mean. We're still going to go ahead and show you to the public as planned, but…with all this violence, they're starting to think that maybe…it wasn't a good idea to bring you back. That they made a mistake. And with your head hurting…they're just starting to question the operations effectiveness in general."

I frown. "So…what?"

"Well, if all goes well, and you keep your fights downscaled, then nothing. Everything will be normal, you'll fight the war with us, go home, live your life."

"Well what if it doesn't go well?"

She doesn't answer.

"Enobaria?" I prod her.

"They're already planning your death." She confesses.

I sigh, but surprisingly am not surprised. I guess I wouldn't put it past the Capitol.

"If there are riots, or no one agrees with it…if it makes things worse…they're going to kill you four. It would have to be publicly, of course, so everyone would know. Right now, they're planning on you being hung, since that's not too torturous…."

I don't respond. Instead I just sit there, thinking. There's no way I've come this far for nothing. The training, the pain. But the only stable thought I can think of right now is this: If Panem doesn't like us, we're dead. Again. But I'm not going down without Katniss. I will kill her, no matter what.

"Sorry, Clove. I just thought you should know."

I nod. "It's fine." I say, not looking at her. I don't want to show her how weak I feel right now.

"Just…clean up your act before someone does it for you. Alright? I'm sure you'll be fine."

It's not so much the fact that the Capitol is planning my possible death that scares me, it's more that it's so bad Enobaria is actually trying to _comfort_ me. It's hard to hear a kind word come out of her mouth, but she's offered me a whole conversation of sympathy. Well, sort of. It's kinda nice. Maybe I should get into life-threatening trouble more often.

I stand up and walk out of the room without saying anything to her. Enobaria's room is high up, but I need to go down to the basement to get my refill of pills. I'm just wanting to get to my room, take my pill, and go back to sleep. But, as per usual, the world is out to make sure that does not happen. Although, I'm not convinced that this is exactly a bad thing.

As I'm walking along one of the basement hallways, I walk past a hospital room with a glass window looking in on it. Just as I do, I hear a tortured scream. Just a short one. I turn towards the noise, but there have been blinds drawn across the window.

But there's just a little sliver of light peeking through the bottom of the shade.

I crouch down next to the window and peer through the tiny opening. From what I can gather, it's an ER room that's been cleared of all furniture accept for what looks like a dentist chair and a desk. There's a pair of legs standing next to the chair, dressed in black slacks and fancy shoes. And as those legs move out of the way, I see who's sitting in the chair. I must say, even _I_ feel a little appalled at first.

It's Marvel. And kneeling next to the chair he's sitting on is Glimmer, with what looks like some sort of sharp doctor tool in hand. Tears are trailing down her face. She looks up, I'm guessing at the fancy-pants man, and she says something a moment later, but I can't make it out. I can't hear anything that's going on inside, but I think I've seen more than I'm supposed to.

Marvel's fists are clenched tight, and I see Glimmer bend over his arm, her hair shielding me from seeing what's going on for a moment. It looks as if she's writing on Marvel's arm, but it's causing him a great deal of pain. When Glimmer pulls away about a minute later, collapsing to the floor in sobs, I finally see what Marvel has been being tortured with.

Marvel's shirt has been removed, letting me fully see. Words have been cut into him. In messy, jagged, bloody letters. On his chest it says: I AM A...and then along his arm, the one that Glimmer had been bent over, are more words, words that I'm guessing she was commanded to write. Liar, betrayer, killer, things like that. These are the three my eyes are drawn to, because they're dark red and dripping blood. But there are a few other words that look like they've been there for a few days, put there by someone else. But having Glimmer do it only adds to the pain fest.

Wow. And that'll probably be me in that chair soon enough. I wonder who that man is.

It looks as if Marvel is trying to console Glimmer from his place in the chair. But then Glimmer gets up suddenly and I jump, because I feel like I should not be seen spying on someone's torture session. But before I can move, the door bursts open and Glimmer runs out, slamming it behind her. I'm about to open my mouth to make an excuse but she doesn't even see me because she turns in the opposite direction and runs to the stairs.

I stay in my crouching position for about a minute after she's gone, staring at the stairs, then decide to go after her. I plan on talking to her. When I get up to the main floor, though, I feel kind of sick, and I wish I got my pills. But I don't feel like going back down there, so I just begin to walk back to my room.

But as I'm walking down one of the empty hallways, my hair is suddenly being pulled, dragging me along with it. My hands instantly go to my head and I try to resist, but I'm dragged into a dark room and slammed again what I think is a shelf. I realize I'm in a closet. The door closes, leaving me in the dark, and I think I'm alone when two hands grab me on either side of my head, whipping me into the shelf over and over. I groan at the pain exploding in my head and kick my attacker away from me. I take the opportunity to pull on a switch that I felt brush against me.

The dim lighting fills the dingy closet at once, and I see Glimmer. No, not Glimmer. It's like she's possessed. The shadows under her eyes look even more prominent in this light, and the way she's glaring at me makes her look straight out of a horror movie.

"Glimmer—"

"This is all your fault!" she screeches before I can try and talk some sense into her. She grabs my shoulders and slams me into the shelves behind me once again, which I now see are filled with cleaning supplies. But now that I know it's Glimmer, I'm less panicky. I know I can beat Glimmer.

I slap her arms away from me and grab her shoulders, but she wraps a leg around my knees, causing me to fall to the floor. She kneels on top of me, about to slap me or something, but I quickly catch her hand and flip her over so I'm on top of her.

"Quit it!" I say to her, breathing heavy. She struggles to get up, then when she realizes she can't, her hand comes up and slaps me. I open and close my jaw, trying to get rid of the sting, then I grab her hand hard in mine. "YOU'RE GOING TO GET US KILLED!" I scream in her face, because she isn't listening to me any other way.

This causes her to stop for a second. She glares at me. "What are you talking about?"

"We need to stop fighting." I tell her sternly.

"Yeah, like I would want to hear that from _you_ of all people." Glimmer scoffs.

"I'm serious. Enobaria told me today that if we don't behave, they're going to kill us in front of all of Panem."

A light seems to turn on inside of her, and the old Glimmer is instantly back. "What?" she asks, her eyes growing wide.

I get off of her and stand up, and she does the same.

"They're going to hang us if we keep fighting. They think the operations were a bad idea, that we're still too violent and angry from the Games."

Glimmer frowns, looking at the ground. "I think they're right."

"Don't say that." I tell her. "You know what? I think they're just scared."

"Of what?" she looks up at me.

"Of us, having more power over them then they'd like."

"Us?"

"The victors, the tributes."

Glimmer narrows her eyes. "Are you saying we should be rebels or something?"

I sigh. "No, Glimmer. I'm just saying…maybe we should play along for a little while. I mean, we'll get to kill Katniss soon. Then, after that, we can go home."

"I _do_ want to go home…"

"Then let's stop fighting. Okay? I'm sorry for hurting Marvel, blah blah blah." I say, not the least bit sincere. But it is kind of tiring getting her death looks all the time.

When I say Marvel's name, though, Glimmer's eyes fill with tears. "They're being horrible to him, Clove!" she cries.

I think she's about to hug me. Time to go. "Okay, let's get out of this closet." I push past her quickly and open the door, not realizing how claustrophobic I felt in there until now. "I know, Glimmer. I saw."

Her eyes widen again. "You did? Isn't it horrible?"

I would probably describe it more along the lines of…entertaining, or humorous. But whatever floats her boat. "Sure."

And so she talks to me about how life is unfair all the way up to my room, which she invites herself into. I lay on my couch and she sits on the floor below me, still talking. As I feel myself falling asleep, I'm wondering if I should tell her I'm about to pass out. But I decide against it. She'll talk herself out sometime.

I fall asleep wondering if I'm going to get out of this mess alive.


	16. Escape

**Ok, so I decided to finally name my chapters! :D Are ya proud of me? Actually, they're all pretty lame…but I went through all that hard work, so I'm keeping them. But anyway, I've been promising that everyone will actually be doing something instead of beating each other up, so here it is. ;)**

I'm sitting on a metal stool. To my right are Glimmer and Marvel, to my left is Cato. And in front of me are about five cameras and a million unnecessary lights. Some lady with turquoise skin and lime green features—eyebrows, eyes, lips, clothes—dabs some more makeup on my face. I scowl at her when she gets some in my mouth and sigh.

I feel Cato's eyes on me and I turn to look at him. I had told him last night about what Enobaria told me, and I'm pretty sure that Glimmer told Marvel, too. So, we all know that we could very well die. Tonight.

Landon strides into the room, looking easygoing and normal, not like he was just planning our deaths yesterday. Suddenly, I want to kill him. He starts giving us instructions; read off the monitor, act convincing, blah, blah, blah. Glimmer starts us off, and Marvel has a few words, then me and Cato talk. We went through it about five times already, since this is going to be live. I look to the doorway, willing to leave, and see Brutus there. He catches my eye and tilts his head in his direction, indicating for me to go over there.

"Can I go talk to Brutus real quick?" I ask the director, who is pacing around and perfecting everything. She gives me a seething look.

"I'd rather you not."

"I get bad stage fright," I lie. "He's my…coach."

She sighs and brushes her purple hair off of her designer suit. "Make it quick."

I slide off my stool and hurry over to Brutus, thankful to be out of those incredibly bright and uncomfortable lights. "Yeah?" I ask him.

"Alright. Remember to take deep breaths…." He winks at me and keeps talking crap as he begins to walk nonchalantly down the hallway, me by his side. When we get a few feet away from the door, he stops.

"Look." He grabs my shoulders and turns me around. We're in a studio in the Capitol. Right now, we're standing on a clear balcony, the one that led up to the room we're shooting in. There are multiple doors to other studios, and two different exits. The whole place is clear—ceiling to floor windows and light blue glass-like floors throughout the place.

Brutus talks low and quick, close to my ear. "I hate to tell ya this, kid, but they're almost positive this won't go well. It's almost like they're just looking forward to making a show of your death. They've got guards surrounding the exits, so they can grab you and haul you straight off to the noose shop if this doesn't go well. I've heard the plan. But what you're going to do is this: they'll leave you a minute after the filming to go see if they need to bring you to the guards or not. Most likely, they will, not to put you down or anything. Now, go to the door and listen before you do anything, but did you see that door in the corner of the studio?"

I nod.

"Great. You need to go out that door; it's not guarded. It leads to that staircase right there," he says, pointing to a glass staircase that's so far to the right I have to lean over the balcony to see it. "Don't go out the exits. Go into room F, that one right there. There's a trap door in the floor under a microphone stand that they use to store supplies. They use a door to bring stuff into that area from the outside, so you gotta go through the trap door and out the door that's in there. From there, you run like hell. I don't care where, just get out. Got it?"

He's said all this so quickly it takes a moment to register in my head. I go over the plan again in my head, then nod numbly.

"Clove!" I hear someone, I think the director, yell sharply from the room.

"Better get going." Brutus claps me on the back.

"Wait, Brutus." I say, finally able to speak. He looks down at me.

"Why are you helping us escape?"

Brutus smirks. "Because, like always, I'm the smart one. Enobaria and I can see what everyone else apparently can't; even though you four may anger the rest of Panem, you're weakening Katniss. And that's what we need to target—the heart of the rebellion."

We're back at the door again. "Thanks."

"Good luck." Everyone has just heard him say this, but it doesn't matter because he could be talking about anything.

I take my seat on my stool and don't look at anyone or anything but the camera. Then the director says action, and Glimmer begins reading the script. Then Marvel, but I don't listen to anyone else talk because I'm afraid I'll mess up what I'm supposed to say since I now have that and Brutus's plan buzzing restlessly in my head.

When it's my turn, I say the words exactly how I did in the rehearsals. Glimmer and Marvel talked about how we were hear to help the Capitol, Marvel explained how we were revived after the Games, and I am to talk about my personal feelings on Katniss. Well, as personal as the script will allow. I did make them let me add my own sentences here or there, though.

"We, as tributes along with Katniss in the seventy-fourth Hunger Games, were always against her. I know she was confident she would win the Games, and she did, but what she did along with it was outrageous. I mean, really? If it weren't for her, Peeta would have died in a second. Besides, everyone knows it was fake. All of it was fake, to get sponsors. We know it more than anyone; we trained along with Katniss and Peeta, we saw them argue, avoid each other like the plague. Katniss fooled you, and now she thinks she's so high and mighty that she's willing to kill all of you." I'm talking to the Capitol citizens, of course; the only people who like us besides the ones in our own districts.

Cato picks up where I left off, talking for another minute, and then the lights turn off, the director yells cut.

And that's it.

"Alright, crew, you can go home. We'll be right back," the director says, and her and Landon disappear out the door. Now comes the moment of truth.

I jump out of my seat and rush to the door.

"Clove, what are you—"

I shush Glimmer harshly and struggle to hear through the door. I can actually head surprisingly well.

"Well?"

"It…it's fine. Everything is fine…for now. With the Capitol. They're thrilled, and of course One and Two are, as well. But…we don't know for how long, exactly. We just got word that the Rebels are planning an attack tonight." Someone explains.

"Tonight?" I head Landon ask.

"Yes."

"Damn. Well…what do we do? Keep them?"

"I don't see why not. But…they're targeting the main city." I finally recognize that the voice belongs to Felix.

"Well then get snow out of the city and prepare to fight." Landon says simply.

"Not that easy. We picked up radar of their hovercrafts, they're coming now. We won't have time to stop them."

"Then what do we do?"

"Well, we either get bombed and lose the war, surrender and lose the war, or kill them…and maybe delay their plan until we can get ready."

It's silent for a minute. "I hate to do this." Landon says finally.

"I know you do. But it must be…."

I don't hear the rest of what he says because I bolt away from the door.

"Hurry!" I whisper urgently to the others. "Stay quiet, go fast, and follow me without questions. Come on, now!"

They sit there stunned for a minute.

"_Now!_" I hiss. "Do you want to get hung?"

They all bolt out of their chairs almost simultaneously. I spot the back door and sprint to it, yanking it open, and lead the sprint down the staircase. When we get to the bottom I hear voices from above and I hurry and spot room F before they can call reinforcements. "Hurry!" I sprint across the open floor and I hear the door we just came out of open. I quickly look back and am thankful that we're out of sight.

I pull open the door to F and usher everyone inside as quickly as possible, because I hear footsteps coming down the stairs. I slam the door behind me.

"Clove, what's happening?" Glimmer pants.

"Shut up!" I snap at her, and look around frantically for a microphone stand. "Look for a microphone stand."

"Here!" Cato points to one towards the side of the room. I move the stand over and try to open the door, but it's locked.

"Shit!" I curse, kicking the lock. I can hear voices outside, and I know it won't be long until they check the room.

"Is there a key?"

"I got it." Cato steps forward and takes what looks like a long needle out of his pocket. He sticks it into the lock and we watch as it transforms to fit the exact shape of the lock. "Got it from Brutus, was wondering when I would use it. Lead the way, Clove."

I don't waste time. "Shut the door behind you!" I warn.

There's a short staircase that leads into a shorter hallway, with a glass door at the end of it. Sunlight from the setting sky streams through. I notice there's a lock on this door, too.

"Cato—"

We hear a door burst open above us.

"No time." Cato runs straight into the glass, shattering it, and we all follow him outside.

The cold autumn air cuts right through the short black dress they've stuck me in, wrapping around my bare arms and sending chills up my spine.

"Where do we go from here?" Cato asks me.

"Not sure." I take off the heels I was forced to wear. "But we'll have to go fast." I jump from foot to foot, looking desperately for a direction to go. To my right is a long street that leads to what looks like a neighborhood. "This way, we'll cut through this neighborhood and after that, try and find a secluded area."

I take of sprinting without another word, and I hear the others follow me. I'm fast, but the others keep up well, and we've already turned the corner when I hear someone go through the shattered glass door.

I run along the streets of the Capitol neighborhood, my feet slapping against the cold pavement, not breaking speed once. "There!" Glimmer, who is running beside me, points. About a mile away there's a patch of forest.

"Okay, everyone head to the forest!" I pant out, trying not to waste my adrenaline by talking.

I hear the pounding of boots and I turn my head back without stopping. There are about five Capitol soldiers pursuing us.

"We have to lose them!" Marvel blurts out the obvious.

"Clove, your communicuff! Hurry take it off, they'll be able to look it up and tell where you are!" Glimmer warns me. I fumble with the thing on my wrist and try not to run into anything at the same time.

"It won't work if we all stay together." I say as we dodge behind a house, all breathing heavily. We have a lead, so we can afford to break for about…thirty more seconds. "We need to split up. Take a lot of back ways, go behind houses, anything to confuse them. Don't let them think you're going to the forest. Go there only when you're sure none of them see you. But we have to do this quick, before more come. Alright? We'll meet there and figure out what to do next. Try and stay alive. Go!"

We all break off in different directions, sprinting even faster then before now that we have a set plan. I see two of them pursue me. Really? Why do _I_ have to get two? I jump over perfectly painted fences and trimmed bushes, cut through manicured lawns, and zigzag through the streets, which don't have a pothole in sight. Capitol people sure are fancy.

After what feels to be about five minutes of nothing but running, I look around. Wow, I'm good. Not a guard in sight. I stop to observe for just one more second before turning and sprinting toward the forest, which is not too far to my right. I've been making it look like I'm going in the direction of the city; maybe they just gave up and went there to wait for me. I can only hope the others are doing the same. It's then I hear a loud _BOOM!_ Like a gun shot. I crouch behind a bush immediately, but realize it was not shot at me. I hope everyone is okay.

I go quickly and stay close to the houses, looking around all the while as I make my way toward the forest. Night has begun to fall, the sun just barely above the horizon, like it's fighting to stay up just for my sake. The bright lights of the city just a few miles away glitter brightly, like millions of electronic stars. But I don't take much time to bask in the beauty, I just keep on going. Finally, I make it to the edge of the forest. I lean up against a tree, panting, and shiver. I hear a rustling sound and whip around, but it's only the wind blowing through the dead leaves. I sigh and slide to the ground, looking and listening for sign of the others. It's almost exactly like being in the Games, but everything is real. Not that it wasn't in the Hunger Games, but…the houses, the city. They're filled with real people who have no idea that the tributes of the Hunger Games are out in their own backyards, on the run.

"Clove?" I jump up and see Marvel standing there. I scowl instantly, wishing it was anyone but him.

"Oh. It's you."

But Marvel doesn't reply sarcastically, doesn't even roll his eyes. "Did you see anyone else?" he asks me.

I shake my head and am about to say no when I see Cato walking along the street. Idiot, he never was one to take precautions. I would call out to him, but I don't want it to be too loud. He spots us immediately and jogs over.

"How long have you guys been here?"

"Not long." Marvel answers.

I sigh, wrapping my arms around my torso. "It's so. Fricken. Cold." I say through clenched teeth as another harsh breeze whips at us, making my eyes water.

"Here, take this." Cato was wearing a suit with a long sleeved shirt underneath for our…premiere. He takes off the coat and gives it to me.

"Thanks." I chatter and wrap it around myself quickly. It's not the warmest, and it's a bazillion times too big, but it's still a large improvement.

"So...should we find Glimmer?" Cato actually looks concerned, from what I can make of his expression in the dim lighting of dusk.

"Yes." Marvel answers almost immediately.

"Wait." I say. "The gunshot. Did you guys…?"

"Wasn't by me." Cato says.

"Me, either." Marvel's face falls. "You don't think?"

"No. I'm sure she's fine." I answer automatically, trying to convince myself as well as Marvel. "Let's go look for her."

We walk silently but at a pace a little quicker than usual. Cato then says what must have been on everyone else's minds as well as my own. "Feels just like the Games."

"Don't say that." Marvel snaps. "We are not in the Games. We'll never go back."

Cato has an expression that looks as if he's accusing Marvel of being in denial, but he doesn't say anything. It really does feel just like the Games; Cato, Marvel, and I hunting through the woods. If you don't look at the houses and buildings, you could believe it. But I know why Marvel was so snappy about it. If it was _just_ like the Games, then that would mean that Glimmer would be dead.

I shake away the thought. Glimmer's not dead. She may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but she knows how to hold her own.

But the other side of my mind, the more logical side, is thinking on the more depressing, but more realistic side of things. The whole reason she died in the first place was because of her foolishness. She fell asleep on watch and almost got the rest of us killed, too.

For once, I hope I'm not right.

We walk for a little while longer, but after about fifteen minutes of looking through the streets and forest Cato stops, and we do, too. A look of raw pain and utter defeat rests on Marvel's face, his eyes trained on the ground as he leans against a tree. Cato puts a hand on his shoulder.

"I can't believe I lost her again…" Marvel sounds so forlorn that I almost feel bad for him. But I'm feeling sad, too, to be honest. I sigh deeply.

"Well, maybe…"

"Maybe nothing, Clove." Marvel interrupts me. "She's gone. Don't try and sugarcoat it for me."

I lean against a tree as well, crossing my arms and scratching my leg with my muddy foot. We're all silent for a few minutes, thinking of what just happened.

"Well, this is an improvement from last year." Cato speaks finally. Marvel and I both look up at him. "When Glimmer died in the Games, you two got into a fist fight about it. Congratulations, you guys are improving."

I see Marvel smile weakly, and I smile at the memory, too. That was a good fight, I even coughed up blood.

But Marvel's smile fades quickly and it looks almost as if he's about to cry, but then he shakes his head and looks up. "Well…what now?"

"I guess we just keep walking through this forest and hope we get out of the Capitol." I answer.

Cato starts walking away from the edge of the forest and I follow, but after a few footsteps I realize Marvel hasn't moved.

"Marvel? You coming?" Cato asks.

"Wait…do you hear it?" Marvel asks, straightening up instantly, holding up a finger to shush us.

"Hear—?"

"Shh!" He points to his left.

Sure enough, I hear it. A faint, super quiet whimper. At first I think I'm imagining it, or that it's an animal, but it makes the sound again.

Before anyone can say a word, Marvel sprints in the direction of the moan.

"Damn it, it could be a trap!" Cato hisses under his breath, then sprints after him. I follow. I doubt that someone could set a trap that quickly for us, but I guess he's just back in Hunger Games mode.

We break through to a little clearing and see Marvel kneeling on the ground with, wouldn't you know, Glimmer's head in his lap. Glimmer is curled up in the fetal position on the ground, one hand wrapped around her stomach, one gripping Marvel's tightly.

"I…came to the forest." She whispers weakly with a smile.

Marvel smiles, and he's actually crying. With tears of happiness, I assume.

"Did you…did you get shot?" I ask, gesturing to her stomach.

Glimmer nods, wincing.

"How bad?" I ask.

Slowly, Glimmer peels her hand away from the wound. I know it's going to be bad because her hand is completely covered in blood. Then I see it. There's a clean hole through her dress, she got shot in the stomach. It was to the side, closer to her hip, not a fatal shot, but she could die easily from blood loss. It's _gushing_ blood. And that's when I notice the trail of blood leading to where she's lying.

"Shit." Cato says. "That won't be obvious."

I roll my eyes. "It's fine, we'll move. We just…need to find out how to stop the bleeding."

Marvel takes off his jacket and shifts Glimmer slightly, then wraps it around her stomach tightly. Glimmer yelps out in pain. "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry," Marvel just keeps whispering as he fastens it around her waste. When he's finished, he takes her hand again. "I don't think we can move."

"We _have_ to move!" Cato protests. "They'll come looking for us as soon as possible. We don't even have to go far, just somewhere they won't spot us."

Glimmer winces just at the thought of moving.

"I think I have to go with Cato on this one. Marvel…could you carry her?"

Marvel sighs, but then nods. He slowly takes Glimmer into his arms, and she grits her teeth, tears squeezing out of her eyes, which are shut tightly.

"I'm sorry." Marvel apologizes again. But he manages to stand up with Glimmer soundly in his arms. "Well…where to?"

"She can't last the night with that injury. She'll be dead by morning for sure." I blurt out. Marvel glares at me, but I shrug. "You said not to sugarcoat it. We need to get something to help her."

"Where from?"

I look to the houses.

"Clove, no." Glimmer says, following my eyes. "You can't…" she squeezes her eyes shut and takes two deep breaths before continuing. "You can't break into someone's house."

I smirk. "Watch me. Stay here."

"Clove!" Cato calls my name, but I'm already running. I turn around and hold a finger to my lips, telling him to be quiet.

This'll be a piece of cake. I go to a house with the lights off. Then, I check the garage. No cars, hovercrafts, or anything of the like. Perfect. I get a hold on the vines that crawl up the side of the house, which were obviously planted there on purpose in an effort to make it look more antique, and climb up with ease. I swing myself around to the window and find it unlocked. Stupid Capitol people think that nothing could ever hurt them.

I slip into the window and find myself in a luxurious master bedroom, which is empty as I expected. But still, I tiptoe quietly into the bathroom and fish through the cabinets with care. I pull out a bunch of supplies; five rolls of gauze, disinfecting gel. I also sneak down to the kitchen and find a bag, then stuff it full of water bottles and food that won't spoil easily; crackers, cheese, chips. I then go out the way I came, close the window, and it's like no one was ever there.

Like I said, piece of cake.

I run quietly back to the gang, and we bandage up Glimmer before starting off into the woods. We walk about two miles it seems when we all get tired and find a good, sheltered spot.

"They'll probably send helicopters out, so we should hollow out a space." Cato says. We all dig through the mud—well, Marvel, Cato, and I—and about a half hour later have ourselves a nice, secure little fort. We dug underneath the bushes so there's a nice big alcove, and if you saw it from above you wouldn't know we were there. We all crawl in, placing Glimmer down with extra care, and try to make ourselves comfortable while practically laying right on top of each other. But I really can't complain because it's a hell of a lot warmer sleeping like a pack of sardines. We agree to have no one on watch; it wouldn't do us much good, anyway. If we get caught, it's over, and that's it.

On that high note, I close my eyes and escape to sleep, trying not to think of the scary yet unknown future that awaits us.


	17. Bombs and Reunitings

**Ok, so I noticed that I'm losing some of you guys…or at least some of your reviews. :/ IT'S BECAUSE MY CHAPTER NAMES ARE STUPID, ISN'T IT! *sniffle* I knew I shouldn't have named those…**

**Oh well, I just want to spoil this for you guys real quick: Glimmer will definitely live, because if she doesn't, neither will I, thanks to Allison. :) enjoy the chapter!**

I'm woken from my sleep by a horribly loud noise. My eyes snap open, and I feel dirt raining down on me. The ground underneath me is shaking violently. I feel someone grab my arm roughly—it's Cato, and he's trying to tug me along, because apparently we're running now. Where to, I don't know. But as I sprint forward as fast as I can without losing my footing on the vibrating ground, the cloudy film of sleep that had been wrapped around my brain finally clears and I manage to process that the bombing must have begun.

I chance looking back once, and I can't see any wreckage besides slight damage from the still-shaking ground, which is a good sign, meaning that the bombs are probably not too close to us. I see hovercrafts flying overhead but I know the rebels wouldn't drop bombs just anywhere; they're only targeting one certain area, trying not to harm the citizens. This makes me feel a little better.

I keep running until small trees fall into each other and make navigating the forest at a fast pace increasingly difficult. Cato is right by my side. "Where are Glimmer and Marvel?" I shout to him over the noise as we stop to take a break.

Cato just shakes his head; he's trying to catch his breath. "Dunno."

That's when things start falling on our head and we both know we can't outrun it any longer. Cato and I both drop to the ground, hands over our heads, as debris from ruined trees and God knows what else rain down on us. No longer than a few seconds after we get down, though, does the noise cease, shortly followed by the ground calming.

I lift my head from the ground apprehensively, tasting dirt in my mouth, and I look around. We still have shelter in the trees, but a lot of them are depending on others to hold them up. We'll need to get out of here today, possibly even quicker than before.

I sigh and sit up, and Cato does the same. After looking around another minute, I say, "Where the hell are we even going?"

Cato exhales loudly. "I don't really know. Thirteen? Twelve?"

"Well…they just bombed the Capitol—"

"No shit." Cato interrupts me.

I roll my eyes and keep going. "So what if Katniss is here? There's no point of going to any of the Districts if she isn't there."

Cato frowns. "I guess you're right. But I don't think she came."

"Why not?"

He shrugs. "I just have a hunch."

I scoff. "Last time you had a hunch we were caught in a bombing, too."

Cato glares at me, but doesn't object because he knows it's true. During the Games, when Katniss bombed our supplies with the girl from Eleven, and they set up the campfire just to lure us away from our camp, I knew it was a trap.

"What if it's a trick, Cato? What if Katniss comes here and takes our stuff?" I had said. But no, everyone had to listen to the almighty Cato.

"It's not." He had said without giving me a glance.

"How do you know?"

"I just have a hunch, okay? Besides, no one can touch the supplies without getting blown to bits—isn't that right?"

Then the wimpy kid from Three who set up the poorly-done trap nodded, and we left, only to find out later that I was right.

"Well what if I'm right again?"

Cato sends a horrible glance in my direction—a glance I haven't seen since the Games. This is when I realize that even though Cato had gone back to "best friend Cato" in the hospital, he's back to "vicious-I'm the king of everything and I'll kill you-Hunger Games Cato". "Then we can come back, kill the bitch, and get on with our lives."

Now that I'm actually sitting here, without a roof over my head and someone else's plans to follow, I realize just how frayed our plan is. We're obviously not fighting for the Capitol anymore, but we're not fighting for the Rebels, either. "What happens after…or if…we kill Katniss? What then?"

Cato stands up, looking angry. "I don't know, Clove! Do you think I know everything?" he yells.

I stand up, too. "Well, you seem to think you do!"

Cato clenches his fists and I see his jaw tense. He closes his eyes for a second, breathing heavily. "Clove, I swear to God I will snap your neck in two seconds if you don't shut your damn mouth."

I gape at him, still looking angry. Where is this coming from? He really _is_ back in the Games. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, Clove! Now shut up so I can think, for Christ's sake!"

I narrow my eyes at him and exhale sharply, but keep my mouth closed after that. It takes a very long minute before he says something. "We should probably find Glimmer and Marvel." I was almost expecting him to add, "so we can eliminate two more," or something along those lines at the end. At least he hasn't totally gone back to the Hunger Games.

I don't reply, just start walking in the direction where we came from.

"Where are you going?"

I turn around and glare at him. "Obviously, since Glimmer is temporarily a gimp, they would be behind us. So I'm going the way we came. Is that okay with you?" I ask sarcastically, but I don't wait for an answer. I just turn back around and continue to stomp forward. After a few seconds, I hear him follow.

We walk in silence for a few minutes, Cato staying a few steps behind me. I finally pick up on voices, and I stop for a second to make sure they belong to Glimmer or Marvel or both, and I recognize Glimmer's and head in their direction.

They come into view and I see both of them sitting on the ground; Marvel is re-bandaging Glimmer's wound. Glimmer's head snaps up when she sees us. "Hey, are you guys…okay?" she trails off, apparently seeing our angry expressions.

"I'm fine." I say, trying not to snap at her.

"You seem angry."

I withhold a sarcastic comment. "No, no—we're not angry. It's just Cato's time of the month, if you know what I mean." I smirk.

Cato glares at me—well, he sort of has a permanent glare on his face for the time being. Marvel chuckles and Glimmer smiles timidly, like she's not quite sure if she'll get punished for laughing.

"I just want to get out of here." Cato says flatly. "Ready to go?"

"Wait," Marvel says. "What if Katniss is here? In the Capitol?"

I look at Cato with a "huh! Would you look at that!" look on my face, but he pretends like he doesn't see me.

"I don't think she is."

Marvel looks skeptical, then opens his mouth to say something but Glimmer speaks first. "Well, we could just wait until we see an update from the Rebels. There's one, like, every two seconds."

"Where are we supposed to see it?"

"Well…we could go to the outskirts of the forest, by the city. The whole place is in disarray, anyway—I'm sure people won't notice us if we lay low."

"Well," I say, "It's not like we have a better plan. Oh, wait—Cato, is it alright if we do that? Wouldn't want to displease you."

I'm pretty sure he growled under his breath right there. "It's fine." He spits. "Let's go, I don't want to waste time."

The sun is just rising now, but the day is cloudy and on top of that there's a smoke that hangs in the air from the bombing, so the day is miserable and gray. It doesn't take us too long to get to the edge of the forest. We stay partially hidden behind the trees, looking out at the street. People are walking, looking scared, rushing to shelters, gathering food, sharing stories. Sure enough, the screen lights up only a moment after we get there, and Katniss's face appears. It doesn't look like she's in the Capitol, after all. "This can stop here. This violence can end, lives will be saved. Just surrender." Is what she says, and some other crap.

"Told you." Cato has a sneer on his face when I turn around. Seeing that sneer on his face…I just want to slap it right off. And I do. Hard. The sneer is erased and replaced with shock, then pure fury.

I hear Marvel trying to hold in his laughter behind me.

"Yeah, well _I_ told _you_ when our supplies was blown to bits, but did you listen to _me_? Of course not!" I shout.

Marvel sighs. "Oh, God, not this again…." He mutters.

Glimmer just looks confused. Well, she was dead at the time.

"Clove, I don't give a damn what happened in the Games! We aren't there anymore!" Cato shouts back at me.

"You're acting like we are!"

"Um, guys? You should probably be a little quieter…" Glimmer says quietly.

I go to slap Cato again, but he catches my wrist, and then when I go for him with my other hand he catches that one, too. He holds my arms above my head, so I'm totally paralyzed in his strong-as-steel grip.

He puts his face close to mine. "I'm helping us get out of here alive. If you want to throw away everything we've gone through just to prove that you were right _one. Fricking. Time_, then be my guest." He hisses in my face, then drops my wrists roughly.

Glimmer and Marvel are gaping. I keep my burning glare on Cato. "You know, I really wish we _were_ in the Hunger Games right now so I could kill you."

Cato laughs, a bitter, short laugh. "If we were in the Hunger Games, you would have been dead five minutes ago."

I roll my eyes. "Whatever, Cato."

Glimmer sighs. "Oh, this _is_ just like the Games. Please stop fighting, I don't want to go back..." I almost feel a little bad. It's like Cato and I are the parents and Glimmer is the little kid, the one who the experience is most traumatic for. And Marvel could be…Marvel could be the pet dog. That works. But I guess Glimmer was the least enthusiastic about the Games than any of us were.

I sigh and look out at the street once more. Thankfully we didn't call any attention to ourselves—we really should have been more careful. I'm scanning over the crowd of Capitol people, looking at their general outrageousness, when I see two people, a man and a woman, who aren't too abnormal, besides their "stylish" Capitol clothing.

The man turns around, and his eyes connect with mine at once.

I almost faint from the shock. I don't know whether I want to run out there and risk discovery to hug him or if I want to steal a peacekeeper's gun and shoot him for leaving me alone these past few years.

Glimmer's gaze follows mine. "Oh, crap, run!"

"No…"I manage to get out. Glimmer looks at me, then back at the man.

"Oh…" Glimmer says as she realizes who it is.

He looks side to side real quick, then grabs the girl's hand and whispers something in her ear. She nods, then walks away. He looks both ways once more, and then sprints across the street to where we are and envelopes me in a hug without a word.

I just stand there for a minute, letting him hug me. He lets go, places his hands on my shoulders, and then his eyes, which are an exact replica of mine, search mine for a few seconds. I can feel everyone staring.

"Crispin?" I hear Cato ask.

My older brother looks up, noticing Cato for the first time. "Hey, Cato." His face finally breaks into a grin. He looks almost the same, but so much older than I remember—his dirty blond hair is a little bit lighter than mine, and his lips not as full, but you could definitely tell he's my brother.

"You guys are okay? I was so worried…a peacekeeper over there just now said he saw you in a neighborhood a little while back, one that was hit with the bombing. Said you were dead. I guess he just didn't want to be punished or something…I've been worried sick about you. And you, too, Cato. Your sister called me and asked if I was in the Capitol, she was hysterical. They're looking for you everywhere, but hopefully this rumor about you being dead floats around…." He looks and sees Marvel and Glimmer. Glimmer half-smiles and waves. "Oh, hi…Marvel, Glimmer." He shakes hands with each of them. "I told my girlfriend to bring around the car. I'll get you guys out of here."

"Where are you going to take us?" Marvel asks.

"Back home. Well, our home." He says, gesturing toward Cato, me, and himself. "I was planning on going back today, anyway."

I still can't bring myself to speak to him, I just keep staring. But then a car pulls up to the curb and a girl gets out. She has short, curly hair and dark eyes. She smiles when she sees us.

"That's Anne." Crispin says. "My girlfriend. You can trust her."

Crispin then walks out of the trees, looks around, and then motions for us to follow. Glimmer and Marvel go first, and at first when I hesitate, I feel Cato put a hand on my shoulder. I look up to him and he smiles a little, and that motivates me to move forward. Maybe he just needed a little bit of home to snap out of his weird mood.

Anne is, apparently, from District One, and she's going back there later tonight with her friend, so we drop her off at her apartment and I move up to the front seat once the door is closed (the car has tinted windows, so we won't be seen) so it's not so cramped in the backseat. Crispin looks back and winces.

"Jeez, are you okay?" he asks.

Glimmer's eyes widen. "Who, me? I'm…fine."

Crispin frowns. "There's a first aid kit in the trunk, if you want to get it for her. It has some Capitol medicine in there that should get it healed pretty quickly, and get rid of the infection.

Marvel looks in the bag for the first aid kit. "So…how have you two been?" Crispin asks, most likely directed at Cato and me.

"Just amazing. You?" Cato says.

Crispin chuckles. "Not too great."

After that we drive in silence for a while until we are finally on the highway to District One, leaving the Capitol. Finally. We pull over once around noon to go to the bathroom and get some lunch—only Crispin goes in, of course—and after that we're on the road again.

Shortly after our stop for lunch, everyone falls asleep, and then Crispin speaks quietly to me. "Clove."

I look at him.

"Say something to me."

I haven't said anything to him the whole time. "What do you want me to say?" I ask quietly. "Thanks for leaving me to live with our asshole of an uncle? Never calling?"

Crispin frowns deeply, looking sad. "Clove, when you…when I saw you were picked for the Games, I felt so...guilty."

"Good." I mumbled.

"And when you…when you were….I just can't even explain it. I felt so horrible for leaving you like I did, for not staying with you. But when I heard you were alive, and fighting for the Capitol, I knew I would see you again, that you would come home safe. But I was scared that this would happen, that you would hate me."

I don't respond for a minute.

"I don't hate you." I say quietly.

"But you're mad at me."

"A little. It's not your fault that I died."

Crispin breathed a laugh and shook his head, keeping his hands on the wheel. "I've had this conversation so many times with myself. And now I'm finally having it with you, for real. It's not even a dream."

I smile a little. "I did miss you, Crispin. And when I made a kill in the arena…a lot of times I was thinking of you."

Crispin smiles.

"And how I was hoping you saw that I was getting along great without you, I didn't miss you at all, and I would rub it in your face when I won."

Now Crispin frowns. "Well…better then not thinking of me at all." He looks at me for a moment, then back at the road. "I'm just glad you're safe."

"Me, too. For now…."

I doze off in peace, knowing that I was on my way home, and that no matter how short the time or how high our chances of getting caught, I was with my brother again and I was safe.


	18. Home Sweet Home

**Hi everyone! Sorry this update was a little later than usual, but I've been having a little bit of writer's block lately. :/ But next week is spring break so hopefully I'll have more time to update! And by the way, I realized the other day that this story will unfortunately have to end sometime, and I have no idea what I'm going to write after this. SO. I have a poll on my page with some choices, and I would really appreciate if you guys go and vote for what you want me to write next! Or if you have any better ideas, PM them to me. :) Ok, sorry for this horribly long note!**

**P.S. For all you Gale fans out there reading this…sorry. ;)**

"Clove….Clove." Through the haze of sleep covering my mind, I can vaguely hear my name being called, but I ignore it. I want to sleep. Unfortunately, whoever was talking did not get the message. "_Clove_!"

My eyes snap open. "_What_?" I ask loudly.

A hand covers my mouth, followed by a shushing noise, but I shove the hand away and sit up, squinting. I'm still in Crispin's car, and it's him who just woke me up. "We need to go."

"Where?"

"Home. Now come on!" He gets out of the car and closes the door quietly. I look in the backseat and see Glimmer trying to rouse Marvel. Cato is nowhere to be seen. It's dark outside. I look at the clock on the dashboard: two forty-one a.m.

I sigh and rub my eyes, and then climb out of the car and into the chilly night air. Well…morning air, I guess. I look around in the moonlight, the sleep fog slowly clearing from my brain.

We're in a driveway. To the right is the street, and to my left is my house. My big, Victor's Village house that Crispin earned and then deserted. My house that I purposely tried to stay as far away from as possible before I was reaped for the Hunger Games. The house where my horrible, drunken uncle lives.

It makes me sick just at the thought of being back here again. One of my goals in the Games was this: win so I could get another house in the Village and live there myself, without telling my uncle. It's not like he would notice. I bet he didn't even realize I was reaped in the first place.

"Crispin!" I hiss. "Why are we here?" I'm whispering because I don't want my voice to echo and wake anyone.

Crispin looks confused. "I'm sorry, did you move out while I was away?" he asks sarcastically. "We've got nowhere else to hide you."

"We could've gone to Cato's!" I whine.

"Yeah, like my aunt would let that happen." Cato's voice comes from behind me. "She hardly allowed _me _in the house."

I turn to see him walking up the sidewalk, entering the driveway. And he's not alone.

Glimmer and Marvel step out of the car then, and Marvel still looks half asleep. He looks around. "Where are we?"

I don't pay attention to him. "Cato, who is that?"

Walking slightly behind Cato is a girl. She looks to be about thirteen. She has long, dark brown hair that's slightly tangled. She's very skinny, but you can tell she has some muscle on her. She doesn't have any shoes, and is wearing only a pair of jeans and a big t-shirt that hangs on her. Her piercing green eyes are wide.

Cato shrugs. "I was talking to Mika on the phone, and then this girl came out and said that she could help us or whatever, so I thought, 'should I kill her?' but I wasn't sure, so I brought her back here. On the way I told her everything that happened, so I realized she'd either have to roll with us, or get killed."

Glimmer observes the girl. "What's your name, hun?"

"Rae." The girl answers.

"You ever seen her before?" Cato asks me.

I shake my head. "Okay…well, why should we keep her?"

"I…you said you were looking for Gale, right?" Rae speaks up, walking a little closer.

Oh yeah. I forgot about Gale. I guess he's not exactly my top priority right now. "Yeah…"

"He's here. I know where, too."

"Oh, really?"

Rae nods.

"Where are you from?"

"Here. District 2."

"Okay, okay, we'll ask questions in a minute. Let's go inside." Crispin says, shooing us all toward the front door.

"Wait, Crispin. Uncle Huck…." I look at him, concerned.

"Not home. I checked."

"The basement, too?"

He nods. "Everywhere."

I sigh. "Okay…" I push open the door apprehensively, but when I take a few steps inside I know that Crispin is telling the truth; there's no one in here. I walk down the hardwood-floored hallway and flip on the lights to the kitchen. I would be worried about people looking in, but there are blinds on the windows and sliding-glass door that block out all light from the outside when closed, and I'm pretty sure the same goes for the inside.

I plop down in a chair at the kitchen table, followed by Glimmer and Marvel. Crispin stays standing and leans against the pantry, and Cato goes straight to the fridge while Rae stands timidly in the doorway.

"There's no food in there, Cato." I tell him. There never is. Just alcohol. And a few gross cracker dips and stuff.

Cato frowns and closes the fridge door, then he comes over and drops into a chair. "Well…now what?"

"Well, we probably can't stay here long. We could be found."

"I would suggest you don't stay here at all." Rae says. She enters the kitchen and sits down quietly in the chair next to me. "There are new people coming into the District. Like, from other Districts. Like Gale."

All of a sudden, Marvel says, "I like this kid." He half-smiles.

Rae smiles a little.

"So…do you have parents or anything?" Glimmer asks her.

Rae shakes her head. "No, I just kind of…wander around."

"Do you go to training?" I ask her.

"No. Only for about a week when I was little, and still someone to tell me to."

Cato frowns. "How do you manage? I mean…do you have some way to protect yourself?"

Glimmer looks confused. "Why would she need to protect herself?"

Cato looks at Glimmer with an are-you-seriously-asking-me-that-question-look. "I know at least a handful of people who would see a girl like this on the street and use her as target practice."

The look on Glimmer's face is priceless. Hey, that's District Two for you.

"So…you just…go around and kill people?" Glimmer asks, appalled.

"No." I roll my eyes. "It's only happened a few times. And they've only been killed like…seven times."

"That's not a few!"  
I sigh. "_Anyway._ How do you protect yourself, Rae?"

Rae, who oddly seemed un-phased throughout this conversation, reaches into the back pocket of her jeans and pulls out a small, thin, hollow metal tube. One end is closed tighter than the other.

"…That's it?" Marvel asks.

Rae narrows her eyes, then she looks around the kitchen. All of a sudden she whips the tube and it spirals through the air, going right past Marvel's face and then it cuts off a shred of cabinet.

Marvel lets out a low whistle.

"Shit." Cato says. "That could cut someone's head off."

Rae nods, then gets up to retrieve her tube from where it's lodged in the wooden cabinet. She then proceeds to take something else out from her back pocket—about four small darts. "I shoot these through it, too. But I only use this when I have to." She says, wiggling the tube in her hand.

"Where did you get that?" I ask her.

"I made it."

"Really? I think you could be useful." Marvel says approvingly.

Crispin, who had gone into the other room, enters the kitchen again. "I just checked the computer. They're issuing a search around noon tomorrow, so I suggest if you're going to do something, you do it now."

I sigh. "Okay. Cato, do you want to go look for Gale? You guys can stay here and talk to Rae."

Glimmer and Marvel nod, and Cato and I get up from our chairs.

"You said you know where he is?" Cato asks Rae.

She nods. "You know that warehouse about half a mile away from the mountain?"

I scowl when I hear Cato try to muffle a laugh. We had gone there to play a lot when we were little. When I was a kid, I wasn't exactly the most coordinated person. I was running, tripped over a pile of junk, hit my head on a rock, and got a concussion. I had to go to the hospital. He still makes fun of me for it.

Wait a second….

Okay. It's official. Rocks are right up there with Katniss on my hate scale.

"Yeah, we know where it is." I mumble.

"That's where he's staying."

"How do you know?"

"I used to stay there a lot, before the war. But when I went in there last time, he was there. So I left."

"Is he alone?"

Rae looks unsure. "He was when I went there."

"I'll be right back." I say, and then walk away from the kitchen, down the darkened hallway, and I go up the huge staircase. The upstairs hallway seems really creepy and deserted with only the hazy moonlight to illuminate it. I pick the door that leads to the room I know to be mine and, for some reason, I open it slowly and carefully, as if a bomb will go off if I step inside.

My room is nothing spectacular. All the furniture came with the house, so I guess you can say it's stylish, but it's not personalized. Not an article of clothing on the floor, no pictures on the walls, the bed made up perfectly. It looks like a guest room, and to me it always kind of felt like one. Like I said, I tried to stay out of this house as much as possible.

I open the door to my walk in closet and turn on the light. Crouching down, I feel for the little string sticking out ever so slightly from the wall, covered by hanging clothes. My fingers find the frayed end, and with one sharp tug it gives away, revealing a shoe box-size compartment. I observe the poorly made storage space for a moment. I remember when I made this. When I was fourteen, after the horrible day where I had to chase my uncle down to try and get my knife back from him. Any weapon in his hands is dangerous. After that little chase I had come in here with a hammer and my knife and hacked away at the wall until I made this, a somewhat safe place to store my weapons. I grab five of the eighteen knives I've stored up—three throwing knives, one regular, and one dagger. Then, I close up the apartment, turn off the light, and close the door behind me.

I come back downstairs, tucking the knives into my belt loops and jacket pockets as I go, and into the alighted kitchen. I climb onto the counter.

"What are you doing?" I hear Glimmer ask. But I ignore her. I stand up on the marble countertops and run my hand carefully along the tops of the mahogany countertops until I feel the cold shaft of a spear. I grab it and toss it to Cato, who fumbles to catch it, and I jump down from the counter.

"Okay. We'll be back." I announce. Glimmer is making a face at me, probably because she's horrified of the idea of me keeping weapons in my house.

Cato and I slip out the sliding glass door and silently walk the familiar way to the abandoned warehouse. After a few minutes, Cato asks me quietly, "What if this is a trap?"

I look up at him. The moon shadows his face, which is creased with worry. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, Rae could have just told us that Gale was in the warehouse, alone, so that we would go and get ambushed. We just met her, after all. How much can we really trust her?"

I stop walking. "Woah. Stop the train. Cato actually had a _logical_ thought instead of barging in on something and ruthlessly killing without a thought? Someone write this down. Where's the video camera?"

Cato rolls his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, but I'm serious, Clove."

I shrug. "Then we kill everyone we can, then run."

He contemplates this for a moment. "Alright. Until I think of something better, that'll work."

We take shortcuts through yards and side streets, walking quietly the rest of the way. When we finally get to the warehouse, which is just on the outside of town, I tiptoe to the huge metal doors and press my ear to one of the cracks in the dilapidated structure. I don't hear anything for a minute, but then I can vaguely hear soft conversation inside, but the thick walls of the warehouse blocks out sound shockingly well, which could either be good or bad, depending on how you look at it.

I put my eye to the small hole my ear had been at and I peer inside. It looks just as I remember. Resembling the inside of a barn with its big but empty inside, piles of junk and wood laying randomly across the dirty patches of cement. There's a flickering light of a lantern inside revealed two people sitting at a makeshift table of a block of wood. One has dark brown hair and grey eyes—that one is Gale for sure, I recognize him from the interviews with family and friends. They had said he was her cousin, but as I learned from Primrose, he's not. There's another guy sitting across from him, with his back to the side door, the lantern right in front of his face. I can see him clearer, but I don't recognize him at all.

I gesture for Cato to come and see. "I'll go around to the side door and take that one out?" he whispers to me like a question. It shocks me that he actually asked for my approval, but I just nod.

"Okay. When he's dead, you come in through this door, and make sure it's closed in case he tries to make noise. Do they have weapons?"

I look through the hole again and observe the two people. "No, doesn't look like it."

"Alright. Be quick, just in case. And Clove?"

"What?"

"Please be careful."

I frown at him. "Okay…I will."

He nods and runs around the side of the warehouse. I put one hand on the door, ready to slide it open and go in quickly, and I crouch slightly so I can look through the tiny hole to see when Cato makes his move.

My heart is pounding, like it always does before I make a detailed kill like this. I try to keep the heavy breathing to a minimum. The seconds tick by incredibly slowly, and I jump every time one of the men fidget in their seat, the adrenaline in my veins urging me to move forward.

So quick that _I _can barely register what happens, The side door bursts open with so much force it bangs the side of the wall and a spear comes through it, stabbing the guy with his back to the door straight through his whole body. The shaft goes so far through it hits the lantern and puts out the light, and I think Cato did that on purpose. The boy slouches in his seat before Cato even pulls his spear out.

Gale is on his feet, looking around frantically, seemingly too shocked to do anything. "Who's there?" he asks, trying to mask the fear in his tone.

Cato steps through the door and closes it behind him. I take this as my time to come in, too, and I slide open the barn-like door, closing it securely and locking it behind me. Gale's eyes shoot toward me for a minute, leisurely making my way toward him, spinning a knife in my right hand. Hey, I have to show off a _little_.

I walk up to Cato's side. Even though Gale is eighteen and Cato and I are seventeen, Cato is a lot bigger—at least, muscle-wise—than Gale, and I can tell that he knows he has no chance. We're standing about three feet away from him. Gale looks behind him and picks up a plastic pole that had been lying on the ground. He holds it in front of him, trying not to look scared. Gale cradles his wrist for a moment, and I hear a small, quiet beep. It must be in my head though, because apparently no one else notices.

Cato smirks. "What do you think you're gonna do with that?"

"Hit you with it," Gale says, "if you try anything."

"_Really?_" Cato says sarcastically. Then he looks at me. "_Wow_!" He turns to Gale, the smirk still on his face. "You know what _I_ think?"

Gale doesn't answer, just waits for Cato to get on with what he's going to say.

"I don't think you're gonna do a _fucking_ thing. I think you're just gonna stand there, like the little bastard you are. And if you try anything, I'm going to grab that pole and ram it _right_ up your ass."

Just then, I hear a noise outside. "Cato." I say apprehensively. "I think someone's here."

But he ignores me. "Drop the pole."

Gale, of course, doesn't oblige.

Cato takes one step closer. "Drop the pole." He repeats, a little firmer this time. I hear another noise outside.

Cato is about to charge on him when all of a sudden Gale swings the pole as hard as he can against the side of Cato's head. Cato freezes, and then a hand goes to his ear. I take a step forward, worriedly, but no one moves for a second. Until Cato drops to his knees, letting out a long, lugubrious cry. I feel my eyes widen and I drop to my knees next to him. "Cato! Cato, please be quiet! _Cato!_"

I move his hand from his ear. Blood is gushing out of the wound. It's running down his face, his clothes, matting part of his hair. I can tell he's trying to muffle a scream. I put a hand to my mouth, unsure of what to do, when I hear Gale take off running.

I stand up and reach for a throwing knife on the inside of my jacket, then whip it so it goes fast. I was aiming for his calf, but he's running and the knife sticks itself in his thigh. He stumbles for a moment and I rush toward him, but he continues to run forward. And that's when I see headlights. There's a car on the road, and Gale rushes to it, jumping in.

Quickly, I close the door he just went out of and lock it, then look around frantically, maybe for a place to hide. But my eyes fall back upon Cato, who is still bleeding profusely. I rush to him and kneel on the ground.

"Cato, oh God, are you okay?"

He's grimacing. "I'll live."

I put a hand on his back. "Come on, I think Gale called for backup or something. We need to get out of here, or hide." So I _did_ hear a beep, after all.

But Cato is still kneeling on the ground, panting.

"Cato, please, you have to get up. We have to go. Please."

I suddenly feel very claustrophobic, very helpless, and I can't help but notice that this is a new feeling. Before my death, before Thresh came, I could take on anything without being afraid. I told myself I would win, and I did. But now, that feeling is gone.

"_Please_, Cato!" I'm whining now. He looks up at me, worry and pain in his features, but he gets to his feet. I grab his wrist and tug him to the back of the warehouse, where the junk piles grow higher and higher. At the very back, there's a window, just big enough to crawl through. I climb up a pile of scraps to reach it, Cato behind me, and smash the glass just as I hear a door being burst out.

I can hear them, but I can't see them because of all the piles. Which means they can't see us. Yet.

"Okay, come on." I whisper to him.

"You go first." He whispers back.

I nod and hoist myself up onto the small window sill, then push myself out on my stomach. When I get outside, I look side to side, making sure no one's there. I don't see anyone, but there are flashlight beams sweeping along the side of the warehouse.

I help Cato get out of the window. The only place we could go now is the mountains. I'd never been up there; it's forbidden. Too many chances for an accident to happen. But it's our only chance. It's only a grassy hill until the dirt paths to the mountains start.

"We're gonna have to make a break for the mountains." I tell Cato.

He takes a deep breath, then nods. "Alright. We're gonna have to run our fastest."

"I know."

Cato looks at me for a second, his eyes searching mine, and then he looks away. "Let's go."

We sprint forward, both keeping pace with each other at our fastest, and I see lights sweep across our backs, hear shouts behind us. But neither of us stop. We've been fast enough to get out of a pursuit before, and these are just rebels.

As I sprint toward the mountains, I just keep repeating to myself: we'll make it.

I hope I'm right again.

**Okay! So I didn't think this one would turn out as long as it would, but oh well. I'd like to give a special thanks to HungerGamesAddict, who created Rae. :) I hope you liked her, I sort of tried to incorporate your name with hers somehow. :D**

** Also, some of the dialogue in the warehouse with Gale was from the movie Let Me In. I altered it only slightly, so don't sue me! But me and my friend were watching it and totally freaked out over the bully in the movie, because his attitude reminded us of Cato, and we were both just like, "new story idea!" :D Hope you liked it.**


	19. We're All Insane

**Hi everyone! Sorry for the late update. But anyway, I posted my brand new….SYOT STORY! :D yay. There's like a million, but I like them lately. So if you wanna submit a tribute, that would be fabulous. :) So here's the chapter, sorry it's a little short! HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE! :D**

"What do we do now?"

I sigh. "I have no idea."

We're sitting in a cave somewhere in the mountains. We ran for only about fifteen minutes before we lost the rebels. It's been about three hours since then; I'm guessing they didn't care too much about coming after us. Now it's dark outside, cold, and raining. I wrap my arms around myself, wishing we had some means of communication with the world. I ditched my communicuff long ago because of the tracking risks, and neither Cato nor I have cell phones.

"So we just sit here and wait?"

"I guess so."

Cato sighs and runs his hands through his hair, pacing back and forth from one wall of the cave to the other. My eyes follow him from my seat on a slightly damp rock.

"We've got to find a way to warn the others. Or leave. Or something. We just have to do _something_." Cato insists.

"Well, first of all, we can leave any time we want. We're not trapped in here." I say, pointing to the gaping entrance of the cave.

"And second of all?"

I frown. "I guess I don't have a second of all."

Cato sighs. "Come on. Get up. We have to go." He says, crossing over to me and holding out a hand. I stare at it blankly. "Clove, come on!"

"Where are we gonna go?"

"I don't know. Away. Don't you want to see if Glimmer and Marvel are okay?"

I raise my eyebrows. "You actually care?"

"I know _you_ do."

I frown again. "Well…maybe a little bit about Glimmer. But I could care less about Marvel."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just go."

I sit for a few more seconds until I finally decide there really is no other option but to leave. "Fine."

I get up and walk with Cato out into the rain, which is now coming down fairly hard. We stand there, looking and listening for a moment, and then begin to walk hesitantly down the mountain. But it becomes increasingly difficult because the rain is gradually increases until it's a total downpour and the dirt roads of the mountain turn to mud. This forces us to move at an even slower pace.

A flash of lightning illuminates the sky and thunder booms loud overhead. I can hardly even see, and water fills my mouth every time I try to open it. I'm repeatedly wiping the rain water out of my eyes, only to have it go right back in again.

I'm about to ask Cato if he wants to stop when another flash of lightning shows a figure just a few feat ahead.

Cato apparently sees it too, because he looks at me, but I can hardly see his face. He moves forward, even more slowly than before, and I follow him, half blind. It's a good thing I'm not in front because it felt like we only moved an inch when I see Cato reach out and shove a shadow I hadn't realized was there a second ago. There's a grunt as the person falls to the ground.

"Damn it, man!" I hear from the ground. I step forward a little, squinting at the black heap on the road.

"Marvel?"

"And Glimmer!" I hear a voice from a few feet away. A bright light turns on from the same location the voice came from, shining right in my face. I lift a hand to shield my eyes, but the light disappears a moment later. Glimmer is holding the flashlight, and she shines it on her own face now and waves. Her long blond ringlets, now waves from the rain, are dripping wet. "We found you!" She's grinning. How is she smiling right now? Slightly behind her I see Rae.

"Turn of the light. We don't want anyone to see it." Cato says. Glimmer obeys and the light switches off. It takes my eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness again, but when they do, I feel like I can see better than I could before.

Marvel is still in the mud, clutching his shoulder and moaning. "Ugh."

Glimmer comes closer and kneels down by Marvel. "What's wrong? What hurts?" she asks, immediately losing her happy tone.

I step closer, too, as Marvel peels his hand away from his arm. It's covered with blood.

"Shit. I thought you were a rebel." Cato says.

Marvel grunts slightly as he sits up. "It's fine, I'll be fine. I just cut it on that rock or something…what happened to you guys?"

"We had him." Cato says. "We were so close, but then…he called for reinforcements, or something, and we just had to go. How'd you know to come looking for us?"

Glimmer shrugs. "We figured you'd be back a lot sooner. Then we just followed the footprints that were in the mud by the warehouse. Well, and Rae helped us."

"I used to come up in the mountains a lot." Rae speaks up.

"Okay, well, we have to get the hell out of here. Where's Crispin?" I ask.

Glimmer and Rae exchange a look. "Well…at first, Marvel went to look for you on his own. When Rae and I were by ourselves…well…Crispin kind of…tried to…kill us."

I feel my eyes widen. "_What_?"

"Really." Rae says. "So we ran, and found Marvel. We don't think he followed, though, and we made sure he didn't before we went up here."

I shake my head. "Bastard." I mumble under my breath. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted him. So who was he working for? The rebels or the Capitol?"

"The Capitol, I'm pretty sure."

I sigh. "Well…let's go."

We all begin to walk silently down the mountain. Well, for about a minute, until Glimmer starts chattering away, as per usual.

"You know, I don't mean to offend you, Clove, really I don't. But I thought something was fishy about Crispin from the start. He just didn't seem trustworthy. Maybe it's because he's related to you. I don't know. But I just didn't like the vibe I was getting. You know what else I noticed? You had _no_ food in your house. Speaking of food, I'm hungry. Is there some way we can get food? Because I really am starving. Oooh, remember that beef stew we had in the Capitol, Marvel? That was great. I love Capitol food. I wish I lived in the Capitol. Oh wait, actually, no I don't. I wish I lived in the Capitol _before_ the war and stuff, maybe. If the war never happened, it would be cool to live there. Don't you think? Oh, but then you'd have to dye your skin and all that weird stuff. Well I guess you could stay normal but you wouldn't fit in. Then you would have no friends. Then you'd be a friendless loser. I think I would dye my skin pink, hot pink! Or maybe purple. Or turquoise. Or—"

"Oh my _God_, Glimmer! SHUT THE HELL UP!" I finally have to say. She looks at me and frowns, but then stays silent for a little while. It doesn't start up again until we're almost at the bottom of the mountain.

"Wow, I'm tired. Do you know what time it is? Could we go somewhere where there's a clock? I hope this rain stops. Horrible traveling weather. Do you think it'll stop? Oh, does anyone know how to get to District Three…?" And on and on until someone tells her to shut up again.

We walk all the way through the morning, only stopping for short rest periods, going in the direction Rae and Cato judge to be the right direction to get out of the district. Eventually the rain dies down, but as the sun starts to rise everyone gets a little cranky…except for Glimmer. She just stopped talking.

The sky is now streaked with pink and yellow, the sun just barely peeking over the horizon. It takes all of us a little bit to realize Marvel stopped walking. We turn around. "Coming?" I ask.

"You know what?" Marvel says. "No. I'm not coming."

I shrug. "Okay." I start walking, expecting everyone to follow, but Glimmer gives me a look so I stop with a sigh.

"Come on, Marvel." Glimmer says.

"No! Cato has no idea where the hell he's going."

"I…kind of do. For the most part." Cato says.

"No, you really don't!" Marvel says, almost looking amused, and a tad bit insane if you look at his eyes. "Look around!" he says, gesturing to the field of overgrown, swaying grass that we're in. "You have _no_ idea where we're going! I say we go back to the Capitol and do what they want us to so we can just go home already."

Cato scoffs. "Yeah, run back to them so we can get killed? Are you an idiot?"

"_You're_ the idiot! You're just a big, stupid, obnoxious asstard who's to useless to know how to do anything except _kill_!" Marvel is practically shouting at the top of his lungs. He looks infuriated, the vein in his neck pulsing.

And over here, Cato's just seething. "Well my "obnoxious killing" might be about to come in handy." He says through clenched teeth, starting towards Marvel.

"You ignorant bastard. Go for it. You'll probably get lost on your way over to me!"

"You shut your damn mouth, Marvel!" Cato shouts, walking still closer to Marvel. When he finally gets to be about a foot away from him, Marvel opens his mouth to say another snarky comment but his smirk is replaced with an expression of shock as Cato reaches out and shoves him for the second time today. Marvel stumbles backwards a few steps.

"Come on, asshat. You wanna fight, come here and fight."

"No, no, stop fighting!" Glimmer cries, starting to walk towards them but then stopping herself. She probably realized that her intervening wouldn't really end well for anyone. I look at Rae, and her eyes are widened, mouth partially open, but she looks kind of interested. She sees me looking and seems to ask me a question with her eyes.

"They do this all the time." I shrug as the two start to throw punches at each other and Glimmer drowns herself in her own panic. "It's just kind of—" my words are cut off by a loud yell of pain from Marvel.

I look over to them. First, I see the dagger in Cato's hand. Then I see the blood stain starting to form on Marvel's upper leg. Glimmer shrieks.

"Damn it, Cato! We don't need to be dragging around a gimp!" I say angrily and stomp over them. I go to step in between them, but unfortunately Marvel throws a punch of Cato and he hits me square in the face. I gasp, bringing a hand to my cheek, and look at Marvel. He looks a little shocked at first, then he grins.

Oh, he did _not_ just grin at me.

I pull out a knife from my pocket.

"Shit, why am I the only one without a knife?" Marvel says exasperatedly. He reaches out to punch me, but I slice his knuckles with my knife and he brings his fist back to him, holding it with his left hand.

"Don't bring a fist to a knife show." I say, and then I have to pause for a second to admire my cleverness. You gotta admit, that was a good one.

"_Clove!_" I whip around to see Glimmer, looking and sounding very unhappy. And also pointing a sword right in my face.

"How did you even _get_ that?" I ask her.

"Leave him alone. I am _so_ tired of you fighting every second of every day." She's sounding uncomfortably serious for Glimmer.

But then the sword is knocked out of Glimmer's hand and Cato pulls her to his chest from behind, holding the dagger up to her throat. Glimmer's eyes widen.

"Don't you dare point any weapons at her." Cato says. Glimmer looks terrified and helpless trapped in Cato's big arms.

But then my moment of satisfaction is ruined when I feel myself grabbed from behind, too. But, since Marvel doesn't have a weapon, he hugs me tightly from behind so that I can't get my arms free. I'm in the position of a mummy, with my arms crossed over my chest, and his hands holding them there.

Wow, he's stronger than I give him credit for.

"What could you do while I have a dagger to her?" Cato says, jerking Glimmer's head up with the knife a little.

Marvel sighs, thinking of a response while I rack my brains trying to remember my training. I remember my trainer, Knight, taught me how to get out of this exact hold. I close my eyes, trying to remember, and then I got it.

I unclench my fists and turn my palms downward, against Marvel's hands. Then, I throw my hands toward the ground and push backwards with my hips at the same time. Marvel's hold breaks on me instantly, and he falls backward. Cato's grinning.

I turn around and place a foot on Marvel's chest, then hold a knife to his throat. "Don't ever touch me again." I hiss. Before I let him go, I slash the knife across his cheek, only leaving a shallow cut. It doesn't even bleed, but he winces.

When I stand up and turn around, Rae is standing in the middle of this mess. She looks worried. "Please stop fighting." She says. I notice that she's turning her pipe thing over in her hand. "Please. We need to go. And…you guys are being really loud."

I sigh. "She's right." I look back at Glimmer, Marvel, and Cato. "Let's go."

Cato takes the knife away from Glimmer's throat and shoves her away. Glimmer stumbles and looks back, glaring. She walks over to where Marvel just got up and clutches on to his arm.

"Damn, I hate District Two." Marvel mumbles.

I smirk. "It hates you, too."

We continue on walking after that, Glimmer and Marvel slightly behind Rae, Cato and I, whispering to each other. I don't bother listening in to their conversation, because I just know it's probably something stupid. Cato nudges me. I look up at him; he's smiling lopsidedly at me.

"That was pretty sweet."

I smile back. "Yeah, it was. We're awesome."

"I know." Cato says. He then makes a fist for me to pound, and I do.

"I wish I could've gone to training." Rae says in a way that I'm not sure if she's talking to me or herself. But when she looks at Cato and I, I know she's talking to us. "It's really cool, all the moves you guys know. I wish I knew how to do that."

I almost feel bad for her. Life must be hard as a waif. "Well…I could teach you some." I say.

Rae looks at me like I've just given her a million dollars. "Really?" She asks, her green eyes full of excitement. "That would be awesome!"

We walk for a little while until we reach an area with some trees and see a dear grazing peacefully. Cato spears it through the eye.

Yum, dinner.

We start a small fire and Cato cuts up the meat. Glimmer and Marvel sit together against a tree, Glimmer making a face toward the deer guts. While the animal cooks, I start teaching Rae some basic self defense moves.

"And if they're holding your arm, like this, just hit their wrist as hard as you can," I demonstrate, but I don't hit her hard, "and it should break the hold. Break the wrist, walk away."

Rae smiles slightly, processing the new information.

"Hey, I'll be right back, I gotta talk to Cato. Go…practice on an animal or something. Like Marvel."

I leave Rae and walk over to where Cato is staring at the deer roasting over the fire. I sit on the log next to him and look at the fire as well, nowhere else. I then say, nonchalantly so Glimmer and Marvel don't think we're plotting something, "I think I should stay up and guard tonight." I glance over to Glimmer and Marvel for a second; they're still whispering.

Cato keeps looking at the fire, as well. "I think that's a good idea. We could take it in shifts."

I nod. "Okay."

The meat is ready then and we all eat it, Glimmer making faces and choking it down as if it were a pile of dog crap. After that, we all silently get into sleeping positions, but I stay sitting up slightly against a tree, saying I'm not tired. Not that anyone asks, the inconsiderate bunch of them.

Cato lays down next to me. "Wake me up when you need to sleep." He whispers. I just nod, staring at Glimmer and Marvel who are pressed against each other. If this were the Games, I think I would probably kill them in their sleep tonight.

I sigh, realizing that once again I'm being drawn back into the Games, and I lean my head back against the tree, looking at the night sky through the treetops. I think this war is driving us all to insanity more than the Hunger Games ever did.

**Dear CCF,**

**You don't know HOW tempted I was to end this chapter with, "I guess there really are a lot of bad people in this neighborhood." **

**:D**


	20. District Four

**WHAT! Ok I'm so sorry, I did NOT think it was a month. Seriously, I thought it was a week. So I was like "Hey, it didn't even take me a million years to update this time." But then I looked at my last chapter and it said Happy Easter….whoops. Well sorry, I get out of school THIS WEDNESDAY! :D So I'll be less busy then. Anyway, hope you like the chapter. :)**

Last night while it was my turn to watch, I was just nodding off when she spoke.

"I know you're up, Clove." Glimmer said.

My eyes snapped open only to narrow as I looked in her direction. "How?"

"You've been talking to yourself."

I frowned. Really? That's embarrassing. "I wasn't talking to myself…I knew you were up. I was just…waiting for you to reply."

Glimmer chuckled. "Okay, whatever, Clove. But why are you staying up? Do you really not trust us?"

I didn't answer for a minute. "Why are you up, anyway?"

"I couldn't sleep. Are you going to answer my question?"

"Probably not."

Glimmer sighed. "This is turning out too much like the Hunger Games. Except this time we're just running. And hiding. I don't like hiding, Clove."

I shrugged, even though she couldn't see it. "Neither do I. But we have to. Hey, why are you talking to me? Don't you hate me right now?"

"Don't you _always_ hate me?" She asked. "What's the difference? We're supposed to dislike each other. We're tributes."

"Not anymore."

"You're right, not anymore. Not literally, at least. But think about it. We're running from the Capital, playing games with them. We're still completely and fully under their control. What's the difference, really, between this and the Hunger Games?"

That made me think. I realized that she was right. But really, this is so different for the Hunger Games. I trained my whole life for the Hunger Games. I was supposed to win and come home. If I had done that, we wouldn't be in this mess right now. Everyone would be dead, except for me. I would be rich, living in my victor's home, and safe. And there would be no war if there was no Katniss. At least the Hunger Games is sort of organized; it's less…intimidating than just wandering around in these unmarked areas, not even having a clue where we're going.

After a few minutes of my not responding, Glimmer said, "Goodnight Clove." And I'm not sure if she went to sleep or not, but I was pretty tired, and after that I decided it would be safe to sleep.

Yeah, I was kind of wrong.

"God damn it, Clove!" Cato whisper-shouts at me.

Ah, what a nice way to be woken up. Normal people could probably sleep through that, but I'm a very, very light sleeper. I force myself to open my eyes. "What?" I spit at him.

He's standing above me, looking furious. "Where's Glimmer?"

I sit straight up and look over to where she was sleeping, but the only person over there is Marvel, still sound asleep. I look all around me then, but I don't see her anywhere. "How the hell am I supposed to know?"

"You were supposed to be _watching_, you idiot!" he practically spits at me.

"I…I was!" I protest, standing up as well.

Cato scoffs. "You must be blind, then!"

I exhale sharply. "Cato, I _was_ watching! But Glimmer was up and she talked to me, so…I figured it was okay! Who gives a damn where she is, anyway?"

"Well, I sure as hell don't, but Marvel will pitch a fit when he wakes up."

"Why? It's not like we told her to disappear."

Cato looks at me and narrows his eyes. "Maybe your dimmer than I thought you were. He'll think we _killed_ her, Clove!"

I bite my lip. "Ooooh. Oh yeah. Well…what do we do then?"

We both think for a minute. After a little while, Cato comes up with a brilliant plan. "We kill Marvel once he notices?"

I shrug. "Not a bad idea. That would probably be right when he wakes up. But…what about when—or if—Glimmer comes back?"

Cato shrugs. "We kill her too?"

I frown. "Well Marvel I don't care about…but Glimmer's kind of grown on me."

"How can she 'grow on you'? She's the most annoying person living in all of Panem!"

"Well…she can be annoying, I guess."

"It would be easier to move, with just you and me."

"And Rae."

"Yeah, and Rae."

I look at Marvel sleeping on the ground. "I don't know. I hate Marvel…but it would just feel weird to finally kill him. You know how everyone has an annoying obstacle that they have to carry with them their whole life? Well, Marvel's mine. What would I do without someone to make fun of all the time?"

Cato sighs. "Are we going to kill them or not?"

I think for a moment. "I think…what if we just leave before he wakes up?"

Cato shrugs. "Fair enough. But before we wake up Rae, I want you to be positive. Are you _sure_ you don't want to kill him?"

"Yes, Cato."

"Damn." He shakes his head. "Oh, well. I guess we better start moving."

We wake up Rae and tell her our dilemma, and she agrees that leaving before Marvel wakes up would be a good idea. So we take one of the backpacks and leave the area quietly, making our way through the trees. We walk in silence for a while, just to be safe, but then Rae brings up something I hadn't really thought of.

"Do you think it would've been nicer to kill him, instead of leave him to fend for himself all alone, always in wonder where his companions are?"

"First of all, we left him with a backpack." Cato says. "Second of all, we are not his companions, because I'm pretty sure you have to like someone to be considered their companion."

Rae shrugs. "Just saying."

"Maybe she's right. But it's not like he doesn't deserve it." I say.

Cato nods in agreement and we keep walking. When we woke up the sun was just rising. Yesterday it was really warm before the sun had even risen completely, but today it's a little cooler.

"It feels like we've been walking for days." Rae complains.

"We have." I say.

"But it doesn't take this long to get to District Three. I've gone there before. Well, to the fence, at least. I think we passed it."

Cato stops walking. "You knew how to get there and you didn't tell us?"

"Well you were going the right way!"

"Well what do you mean we passed it? How could we have, wouldn't we have gotten to the fence?" I ask her.

"Well we took a wider route than I did the time I went. So maybe…we went around it?"

I sigh. "Well…we're that much closer then, right?"

No one answers me. It was kind of a rhetorical question, anyway. Cato turns around and continues walking. And walking, and walking. We walk for hours, only taking short breaks every so often. After a while, my legs just became robotic and I hardly felt them moving anymore. We walk until the sun sets, and then I sniff the air.

"It smells like that food we had in the Capital, Cato. You know, that stuff with the really good buttery sauce?"

Cato thinks for a second. "Salmon?"

"Yeah. It smells like salmon."

"You're probably just letting your hunger get to your brain." Cato tells me dismissively.

After about another mile, Rae wraps her arms around herself. "It's getting really windy. And I smell that smell too, Clove…but I've never had salmon."

Cato sighs. "You're all going crazy." He grumbles. But then he stops. "I smell it, too."

Rae and I stop walking as well. "Do you hear that?" I ask.

"Hear what?"

"Just listen. Next time the wind stops, listen." The wind stops then, as if on cue, but there's still a noise that sounds like the wind. "It's water." I decide.

"A lot of it." Rae agrees. "So that means…we're in District Four."

Sure enough, after about fifteen more minutes of walking, a large port comes into view, and splashing up against the cement ground is the expansive sea. It looks like it goes on forever. People are bustling around at stations, coming in from boats, skinning fish, bartering and trading, and other normal things. The only thing separating us from this normal District Four day is a barbed wire fence that rises up at least six feet above my head.

"How do we get in?"

"There's got to be a break or hole in the fence _somewhere_." Rae says. "There always is. And in our districts, the Careers, they don't enforce staying inside the boundaries as much as they do in the poorer districts." She looks at us. "I have a lot of free time on my hands to read."

We follow her up and down the fence for a little while until we come to a more secluded part of the port, still without finding a gap. Rae all of a sudden perks up and she picks a stick up off of the ground and throws it at the fence. It bounces off and falls to the ground, like it would if it hit anything else.

"Well, that was a huge waste of time." Cato says. "Maybe we should've checked to see if it was charged _before_ we walked ten miles?"

"It wasn't even one mile." Rae shakes her head. "Can I have your knife, Clove?"

I take a knife out of my pocket. "I'll do it." I get down on my knees and cut a hole through the fence, just big enough for us each to fit through. I go first, then stand there for a second, waiting for alarms or something to go off. But none do.

"Huh. You'd think they'd be taking extra precautions because of the war. Makes you wonder about the safety of the country we're living in." I say.

Rae laughs. "Yeah, because our country is the safest place to live."

She and Cato climb through, and we all survey the area. Branching off of the port not too far away is a wooden boardwalk that leads to a dock, and off of that looks to be how you get to town.

"How do you suppose we do this?" I ask. "Just walk right through the middle of the district?"

Rae frowns. "Well…you two will be recognized for sure if you're seen. We could probably find some back ways to take, or something."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Cato says.

We begin to walk carefully through the port, but no one takes notice in us. Cato and I put away our weapons as not to bring attention to ourselves. What's more obvious than a bunch of wanted resurrected tributes waltzing around a district in full health, weapons ablaze?

We keep our heads ducked once we get to the main road, for its more crowded here.

"What happens if someone sees you?" Rae whispers as we look for a back way.

"We kill them before they have the chance to say anything and cause a scene." Cato says simply.

"And killing someone _wouldn't_ make a scene?" Rae asks.

Cato shrugs. "Not if you know how to do it right. Hey—" All of a sudden he stops walking. "Everyone shut up."

"You were the only one talking, dipshit." I roll my eyes at him and he shushes me.

"Listen!"

"To what?"

"Those people."

I spot the people he's talking about, then I look away so it's not obvious we're listening.

"—can't believe they made their way here. Just shows that this war is actually happening." One man is saying.

"I know. After that bombing, things seem in favor for the rebs, huh?" his friend answers.

"Yeah. I mean I don't hate the Capital with a passion like some of these folks, but as long as things aren't so tight around here, I'm fine with a new leader."

"I'd say the same, Mack."

The man, Mack, hauls a barrel of fish up on to a wagon. "Do you think they're staying, or just passing through?"

"The rebels? Not sure. Probably passing. How many are with now?"

Mack shrugs. "Just the inner circle, I heard. Katniss Everdeen and the people that travel with her. Some victors, I think."

Cato and I exchange a look. Katniss is here, in District Four. With us. Right now.

The two men say goodbye to each other and the three of us duck into an alley. Cato grins. "Maybe this'll be easier than we thought. "

"Yeah, but…we don't have Marvel and Glimmer."

"So what? They weren't much of a help anyway. Are you gonna help us, Rae?" Cato looks to her.

Rae shrugs. "I guess so."

"Awesome. First, I'm hungry. Clove, get some food."

I scowl. "Get your own damn food!"

Cato raises his eyebrows. "I'm not very small or agile. Do you want me to lumber on out there and just take the food?"

"Yes."

Cato sighs. "Meet us back here."

I roll my eyes. "Fine. But if I bring you things you don't like, you'll have to deal with it." I turn and head down the alley, heading in the opposite direction of the street. Each of these back streets lead into one another; it's like a giant maze. I try my hardest not to get lost, but I also need to go a little deeper in order to stay unseen, because there are only a few people here or there that walk past me, and they don't even look up from their carts to acknowledge me. But still, I duck my head just to be safe.

After a few minutes I feel like someone's following me. Just that uncomfortable, vulnerable feeling on the back of my neck. But I always feel like that, and every time I turn around, I don't see anyone.

It's been about ten minutes and I haven't found anything in this town of back streets. I didn't know it would be a whole fricken labyrinth back here! I would've stuck to the main street and risked it. It's becoming increasingly difficult because of the setting sun; it's casting shadows, making the alleys even darker. The stone streets were actually quite pretty when it was light out, but now they just look ominous.

I sigh and stop walking when I'm certain I'm at the dead center of this thread of streets. Maybe I should've asked for a map or something? That would've been smart. Or dumb, considering they would probably ask me who I was. I could've stolen one….

I wonder if Rae and Cato have noticed my long absence. I'm very hungry now, so hungry that I think it's sort of passing. Either that or I just can't feel it anymore. I should've turned around a while ago. No one is roaming the streets anymore. The small shops are smaller and more ran down, and there are ramshackle houses substituting the place of where shops would be. I'm about to sit down when I hear something. A shuffle of a foot. I take out my knife and whirl around, but there's no one there. The sky is becoming even darker, and I'm starting to think it was really stupid of me to go this deep into the back ways. Okay, there's no one there. I'm just being paranoid.

When I turn back around, there's another face right in front of mine. A very gorgeous, very sinister face. I reach out my knife to stab him but he catches my wrist in a steel hold and knocks the knife out of my hand, then slaps me hard across the face. Then he takes the hand that slapped me and puts it to my throat, slamming me up against the brick wall of the old house behind me. The grip on my throat isn't too tight, but it hurts like hell, as does the place where he slapped me. I stare right into his deep sea green eyes which are narrowed at me, his smooth tan face is twisted into a scowl.

Finnick Odair is about to kill me.

"How did you get here?" he snarls at me. "Who's with you?"

I don't answer and instead bring my hands to his, trying to pry them away from my throat. He tightened his grip with each sentence he said to me, and it only tightens more with my struggle.

"Answer me!" He screams, his face right in mine.

"I can't…" I try to tell him that he's cutting off my air supply, making it physically impossible to answer him. He glares, then looks to the side at the old wooden door right next to us. He kicks it in and then shoves me into it. I gasp for air, thankful that I can once again absorb it.

Finnick comes in after me and slams the door behind him. The room we're in is small, with dark, dusty hardwood floors and a single small table in the corner with a lamp that's giving off the only sparse light. He crosses his arms over his chest and stares me down.

"So, I finally meet the infamous Clove." He says with a sinister smirk.

"What do you mean?" I narrow my eyes.

Finnick rolls his eyes and begins walking slowly towards where I stand as he talks. "Everyone at our base talks about you. You, and the male from your district…Caleb?"

"Cato." I correct him, not sure if he meant to mistake it.

"Riiiiiight…." He starts circling me now. "You're quite a vicious one, I understand. I can picture it." He stops and gives me a half smile. "Should I be frightened?"

I narrow my eyes at him but don't respond.

"Alright then. I do admire your strategy…." He looks straight into my eyes. He's very close to me. Very, very close.

"I know what you're doing, _Finnick_. Don't bother. I'm not going to tell you anything just because you wink at me."

Finnick takes a few steps back and crosses his arms again. "Okay, fine then. Why don't you just tell me straight up then, and save us all some time?"

I shake my head. "I don't have anything to tell."

He laughs, a cruel sound that almost makes me shiver. I knew he was good with making people fall for him, but I had no idea he would be so intimidating in an evil way, like he is. "You may be clever, but you're a fool if you think I'm stupid enough to believe that. What's the Capitol's next plan of attack?"

I raise my eyebrows. "Have you not heard? I don't work for the Capitol anymore. We ran away."

Finnick looks genuinely surprised. "Really? Why?"

"It doesn't matter." I say dismissively.

Finnick gives me a sly smile. "It's too bad I need to kill you…I like you, Clove. But if you're not working for the Capitol…what are you doing?"

"It doesn't. Matter." I repeat.

He has my throat again before I can process what's happening. He's good. "It does. It matters all too much."

"Why are you fighting for them?" I ask him suddenly. "I thought you loved the Capitol. They sure as hell love you. You date Capitol girls all the time. Why the sudden change of heart?"

I see a break in Finnick's mask. "It's not sudden." He says coldly. His grip, which had loosened when I asked him this, tightens again suddenly and he throws me onto the floor. I hit it with a loud band and wince. "If you're not going to tell me anything, I might as well kill you know." He says grimly. He walks behind where I'm lying on the floor to the long table that holds the lamp. He opens the cabinet under the coffee table and pulls out a trident. But it's not just a fisherman's trident, it's a trident made to be used as a weapon. When he sees my shocked expression, he smirks. "It's a meeting house. For emergencies."

He turns away from me, holding the trident up to his face, observing. I stand up slowly and quietly, ignoring the flaming pain that's shooting up my spine. I slowly reach into my jacket and pull out a knife, but his instincts are as good as mine. He whirls around and stabs with the trident just in time for me to duck. I twirl my knife between my fingers so it's in a more comfortable position and slice expertly at his calves since I'm already down there, but he jumps back.

"Ah, you're great with knives, babe." He grins at me. "Good. This'll be more exciting than I thought."

I scowl at him but his smile—or smirk, rather—doesn't disappear. He looks to his right for a second and I take my chance and whip the knife at his face, but his trident comes up in a flash and he deflects it, sending the knife clattering to the floor.

I've never missed a hit. And now I'm defenseless.

He takes stabs at me over and over, and thanks to my many years of training I'm able to dodge almost all of them, but he slices me a few times. It goes on for I don't know how long, until I step on the head of the trident when he stabs at my feet and it falls out of his hands. He looks at me and smiles in a "challenge accepted" kind of way, and then he lunges forward and reaches for my neck, but I dodge him and manage to duck away. But he grabs hold of my shoulder and pushes me down to the floor with ease, then puts a foot on top of my chest. He reaches for his trident on the ground and then points it right at my face, so close that one of the tips is almost touching my face.

"Sorry, gorgeous. You were trained well, I can tell. But I'm just too good to beat." He smiles. "I hate to do this to you, love, but…." I'm about to try and kick the spear away once more even though I'm weak and slightly broken, but then I don't have to. The door bangs open and someone steps in.

"Stop! Finnick, stop, don't kill her!"

Finnick and I both look towards the door, and I almost want to scream when I see who just saved me.


	21. Going Back

**Well. I'm sort of terrible at updating. But just bear with me because the end of this story probably can't be too far away… :( But it's not over yet! My goal right now is to get at least 100 reviews by the time it's over. Eh?**

Even if I couldn't tell by the voice, I would have known instantly who my savior was. I could feel it in the air, her presence…it's strange. And hard to explain, but it's definitely there. I look at her boots—dirty, worn hunters boots—since they're at my eye level. Then I crane my neck to look up and behind me at her face. It's almost exactly how I remember, but almost more…mature. She seems wiser; just by looking at her face I can tell. I suppose it's not a mystery as to why.

She's breathing heavily, like she sprinted all the way here from wherever she was. "Stop." She says between pants. "You can't kill her."

Finnick lowers his trident, stabbing it into the floor next to him and leaning on it casually. "Why not?"

"Because…" she exhales sharply. "Because then we're no better than them."

A look of disbelief crosses over Finnick's face, and then it's replaced by shock. "No better than them?" He breathes one, humorless laugh and shakes his head, straightening up and folding his arms. "Katniss, this girl tried to kill you. She tried to kill Peeta. She killed tons of kids in the arena."

"So did you." She replies, shocking Finnick further and me, as well. "You trained for the Hunger Games your whole life, just like her. You killed tons of kids, just like her."

Finnick glares at her. "Look at what she did to Prim, Katniss. She _hates_ you. And she's going to kill you if I don't kill her right now. And yet you're stopping me."

Katniss doesn't answer. Instead it's silent, except for her ragged breaths which are now slowing. I can't believe she's here. She's actually here. Right in front of me. Well, in back of me if you want to get technical. Finnick is looking at Katniss expectantly, waiting for her to say something. He looks a little angry…and his attention isn't on me. I take this to my advantage by shoving his foot off of my chest, causing him to stumble a little and allow me to get up. He looks at me, angry at my foiling him, but he's also surprised. He lunges to take hold of me again, but I shove him back and pluck his trident from the ground, then spin around and point it at his throat just as he's starting towards me again. He stops abruptly and stares at the points at his throat. I see him grinding his teeth.

I look at Katniss and she seems about to say something, but the words get caught in her throat. I look back at Finnick and decide that I won't kill him right now. I remove the trident from his throat, bring it back, and then slam the side of it into his temple as hard as I can. He stumbles backward, then drops to the floor unconscious.

I drop the trident but kick it against the wall, just in case Finnick gets up sooner than preferred and takes it. Then I walk to the opposite wall and pick up my knife. Of all the days I choose to only carry one with me, it just _had_ to be today.

Slipping the knife into my pocket, I walk in front of Katniss so that the two of us are only about a foot and a half apart. Then we just stare at each other. She's afraid; I can see it in her eyes, feel it radiating off of her as if it were a scent. But still, you couldn't tell it just by glancing at her.

After what seems like an eternity of just staring—or glaring, in my case—at each other, Katniss finally finds her voice. "Just tell me one thing, before you kill me, if you're going to….How?"

I narrow my eyes at her. "How what?"

"How are you alive? How are you here?"

I smirk. "The Capitol is magic."

Katniss scowls. "Just another reason to hate them." She looks at me. "Why are you alone? Isn't…Isn't Cato…." She shivers slightly, as if the thought of Cato coming along was too scary to think of.

"Not here." I answer. "Which is probably worse for you. Because, as you must know by now, Cato doesn't have a lot of patience. Actually, he has no patience. So that means his kills are faster. Definitely not quick, but a lot faster than mine." I turn to her with a grin on my face. "In case you've forgotten, I do love to draw out deaths as long as possible."

Katniss now just looks terrified, struggling to hide the fear that's plastered on her face. Her gray eyes look haunted, and she's no longer looking at me, but in the distance. "I remember." She says quietly, raw fear oozing through the cracks in her voice.

I stare at her until she looks at me. "Now, I'm genuinely curious." I say to her. "Why did you come here if you knew I would kill you?"

She looks at the ceiling, then at the floor. "I don't know…I guess I just…first of all, needed to stop Finnick."

I shake my head slowly. "I don't understand you. You just had the chance to have me dead and continue living. Why throw it away?"

"I didn't throw anything away." She argues. "Should I have let Finnick kill you? Would you have been happier?"

I glare at her. "You're just too…good. Don't you get it? That's why I hate you so much."

Katniss frowns. "Good?"

"Yes! Good. You're a good person. And I hate it. You're _too_ good; you're just so…innocent. And harmless. It makes me sick."

She looks at me coldly. "I've changed since the Games."

"I know. We all have. I don't think anyone goes into the Hunger Games and comes out the same."

Katniss nods. "I actually agree with you there."

It's silent for a few seconds, and then I just have to laugh. It's one of those moments where you just can't help it. Katniss looks at me as if I'm crazy, and perhaps I am a little, but really. I'm sitting here having almost casual conversation with the person I hate more than I've ever hated in my whole life. Wow.

"Well…I suppose there's no point in prolonging your death." I look at her. "You're not going to try and fight me? At all?" I ask, eyeing the knife in her pocket.

"I'll resist you, of course." Katniss says. "But only long enough for them to get here."

As if on cue, there's a knock at the door. I look at the old wooden thing, my heart in my throat. Now I'm the one who's scared. Who is it? How many are there? Katniss walks over the door, keeping her eyes on me the whole way there. When she opens the door, my terror turns to relief in a second.

It's Rae.

Her large green eyes find me, and she looks relieved. Then they slide to Finnick on the floor, and then finally to Katniss. She stares up at her for a while.

"Oh." She says. "I…oh."

Katniss looks confused.

"Where's Cato?" I ask her.

"He's…" she looks at Katniss, seemingly irritated. Then she shoulders past her and walks over to me, speaking quietly so only I can hear. "He's back at the pier, where we came in. He says we need to go back to the Capitol."

I frown. "Why? Why now?"

Rae continues whispering, even though Katniss isn't making any obvious attempts to eavesdrop on our conversation. "You know Peeta?"

"Lover Boy?" I ask, suddenly interested. I feel a smirk form on my lips when, out of the corner of my eye, I see Katniss's head snap up.

"Yeah. We ran into him looking for you. Cato was going to kill him, but he just knocked him out instead. He hasn't woken up."

"I still don't get why this means we have to go back to the Capitol." I say. I have this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, and I feel like I need to rush her on what she's saying. I don't know when "they" are coming or who they even are. But I'm sure they'll back up Katniss.

"Well, we ran into Enobaria."

"Enobaria?"

"Yes. She said that you're not in trouble anymore and that we need to go back."

I shake my head. "That makes no sense. Why would we suddenly be excused from running away?"

Rae shrugs. "She said she'd tell us when we got you. But we need to go, now. She said that lots of rebels were coming into this area; they're going to the Capitol, too. We should've waited for them to come to us."

I straighten up when she finishes speaking. Then I look at Katniss and sigh. "What do I do with you? I certainly don't have enough time to kill you."

"Just wait." Rae tells me. "We'll see her again soon enough."

Katniss looks at Rae with interest, but still remains silent. I walk over to Katniss so that we're face to face, and then I take my knife out of my pocket.

I smile at her. "Just to hold me over." She looks confused, and then I jab the knife into her thigh. Katniss cries out and shoves me away, cupping the wound that's already starting to gush. I reach out and slice the back of her hand, and then the inside of her arm when she shoves me away again.

Rae grabs my wrist and yanks me towards the door. "Come on, you'll just want to finish if you keep going."

And she's right. I already want to finish her off, so badly. She's right there; it's so unbearable to leave. But I know I have to, or else I'll end up getting killed. If Katniss is coming to the Capitol, I'd rather kill her there—a bigger audience. I'll just have to wait. I turn to Katniss, who is now limping towards Finnick, and smirk at her, saying one last, "See you." And I would see her. In the very near future.

Rae and I run through the maze-like area and back into town with ease—she has a very good memory and knew exactly how to get through the streets. We duck through the port as we did before, but it's dark out now, and the only light is coming from the many stars above and the soft glow coming from shop windows that double as homes for the owners. She leads me right to the tree line, where I see Cato and Enobaria. Even though Rae told me they found her, it feels so strange to see her.

They both look relieved when we come up to them. "You're safe." Cato says.

I nod. "I found Katniss."

Cato's eyes widen. "Really."

"Yes. And I was about to kill her. But she called for backup and—"

"And we need to beat that backup to the Capitol. So come on, let's go!" Enobaria rushes us along through the hole in the fence. We all run in silence along the tall grass for about a mile or so when Enobaria finally stops, halting the rest of us as well. She presses a button on her communicuff, and less than a minute later a small hovercraft appears overhead. It drops down close to the ground, and then a ladder slides out of it. We all step on and it freezes us in place, bringing us up into the sleek black hovercraft.

The lighting in the hovercraft is dim, not much of an improvement from the outside. It's very small, and the all black décor makes it even smaller. Black metal walls and floors, and black leather seats. Not very welcoming, but to be honest I'm just thankful to be finished walking.

"You two are probably the luckiest I've ever met in my life." Enobaria sighs. "You run away from the Capitol with about a million people trying to kill you, and you come back without a scratch, _and_ having seen Katniss." She shakes her head. "And yet you couldn't make me look good and win the Games. Bastards." She takes a sip of a drink that appears on the little side table next to her chair.

"Have you seen Glimmer and Marvel?" I ask her.

Enobaria shakes her head and puts the drink down. "_I_ haven't, but they were found. They're on their way to the Capitol, too. What made you guys split up? Even Marvel and Glimmer were found in different places." She sniffs. "Was there some feuding going on, hm?"

"They were being assholes. That's all." Cato says simply. "So we ditched them. Well actually, Glimmer just up and left one night. Then we ditched Marvel while he was sleeping."

Enobaria smiles. "I can just imagine him freaking out when he woke up."

Cato chuckles. Rae, who had been silent the whole time, speaks up. "Why were you in District Four?"

"Looking for you, of course." Enobaria says. "And killing some rebs. But mostly looking for you." Then she frowns and looks at Rae. "Who are you?"

"This is Rae. We picked her up in Two." Cato explains.

"Ah." Enobaria nods.

"And why are you bringing them back?" Rae asks, ignoring the previous conversation.

"Yeah," I agree with Rae, "why _are_ you bringing us back?"

Enobaria sighs and leans forward a little in her chair. "Landon requested it."

"Why?" Cato asks. "Do you _want_ to see us killed?"

"I already did." Enobaria says. Ha-ha. She must think she's so clever. Cato and I both scowl at her, which makes her laugh. Her smile is gone within three seconds, though. "Seriously, though. I honestly think it wouldn't make a difference if you two came back, because Panem is in such turmoil already I don't think a couple of resurrected tributes would do much to fuel the fire. Even if…" she trails off.

"Even if what?" I encourage her.

"Even if it didn't happen."

"What didn't happen?" Cato asks. "The war?"

Enobaria shakes her head. "No. I can't believe you haven't heard, even though you've been away. But, quite apparently, you haven't. So of course, it's my job to tell you. Take it as good or bad news, whatever your opinion is. I, myself, am still indifferent…not really sure how I feel just yet. If it's good or bad. For us. For the war."

"_What_?" I ask her, and she looks up at me, completely serious.

"President Snow is dead."


	22. Almost There

I look down on the streets below, the scene chaotic. I can hear the gunshots and screams all the way from up here in our small hovercraft. There are cracks running through the once perfectly paved Capitol streets, fires raging in buildings and recreational areas, condensed mobs pushing through the roads. Everything looks terrible.

"Was there an earthquake?" Rae asks, removing her face from the window.

"No, that's just where Katniss stepped." Cato guffaws at his snarky comment and then stops when he realizes no one else found it humorous. He glares at us and stands up. "You guys are no fun," he grumbles before ducking through the door into the next room.

Enobaria shrugs, choosing to ignore Cato's attempts at joking. "Maybe. Or maybe it was from the explosions."

Rae nods briefly and then presses her nose back up against the window.

"Where are we landing?" I ask Enobaria as we begin to fly over a body of water.

"And when?" Rae chimes in.

Enobaria looks at the communicuff on her wrist. "We'll probably touch down in about t—"

Her words are cut off and all of a sudden I'm blinded by a flash of bright orange. Smoke fills my lungs and eyes and I'm coughing and sputtering. I register a sharp pain in my side. The hovercraft jerks to the side and Rae is flown back against me and we tumble to the wall, knocking the wind out of me. An alarm is going off and I'm sent sliding along the floor again as the nose of the hovercraft begins to dip down. Through the haze of smoke an arm pops out at me, holding a large backpack.

"Take this!" I hear Enobaria shout over the noise of the alarm and whirring of the wind outside. "Go out the back! Pull the string when you get—" her words are cut off by another loud boom, this time on the other side of the hovercraft. "Just go! Now!"

I don't need to be told twice. I scramble towards the back of the helicopter, and as I'm doing so the door pops up to reveal a grey sky. I feel Rae crawling behind me but don't take the chance to look back; breathing is difficult and the pain in my head and side is immense.

I practically roll out of the sinking hovercraft, quite unprofessionally. Then there's flashes of gray and blue and the sensation of falling. I manage to straighten myself out and look around just as I hit the water.

For a few seconds I panic, thrashing around blindly and accidentally inhaling. I immediately hold my breath, because if I take another one I'm as good as dead. I try to calm myself long enough to think logically. The backpack is pulling me down, but I can't get it off because it's somehow stuck on my jacket. All of my knives…I quickly reach into the most easily accessible pockets and come out with two knives in each. They'll have to do. I squirm out of the jacket and then kick myself up to where I see dwindling rays of light. I break the surface sooner than I estimate and gasp for breath, trying to tread water. I cough and sputter and lean back to float on my back since I'm too tired at the moment to tread water.

I float there for a few minutes, and once my head finally begins to clear all I can think of is how incredibly grateful I am that my father had a pool installed in our basement before he died. Our basement was pretty much our own personal gym. He taught Crispin how to swim and then Crispin taught me.

I sit up with a splash and look around me frantically. All around me is water, but in the distance I see land. It looks like a beach. And even further in the distance I see the city, but that's _way_ in the distance. The small beach itself looks to be at least a mile and a half away.

As I begin to make my way there, I start to worry. What if Cato can't swim? No, he can swim. Obviously—he was trained in my very own pool. What about Rae? Can she swim? I think so, since she's visited District Four. But what if she's dead? Or drowning right now? I shake my head and tell myself to stop freaking out. Well you know what they say, paranoia comes with panic.

Eventually my limbs become sort of numb and I'm propelling myself slowly through the water almost automatically. About half a mile from the shore I begin to feel really lightheaded. It could be from anything; the smoke, the shock, the swimming. But then I look behind me and notice a long streak of crimson snaking behind me through the water. I frown and swim forward again, looking down. A scarlet cloud blooms underneath the water. I touch my fingers to my side and feel warmth. Floating awkwardly on my side, I observe the wound. It looks like something took a bite of me. Maybe I got burned, but the blood wouldn't make much sense. Maybe I hit myself on a chair.

I try to ignore it and begin swimming again, but it seems like now that I've noticed the wound it's beginning to take a bigger toll on me. It feels like it's been hours by the time I finally reach shallow water, and once I get there I'm practically dragging myself along the sandy bottom. No, I _am_ dragging myself. Lying on my stomach, digging my hands into the sand, and pushing myself forward with every wave that comes. I finally make it to the dry sand and collapse, my knees and below still in the shallow tide. I close my eyes and take deep breaths, my head pounding and a heartbeat in my side.

I don't know how long it is that I lay there, sleeping or forced into unconsciousness from lack of blood, but when I open my eyes again I'm on my back and there's something wrapped around my stomach. I'm dry except for a dampness to my hair and clothes. I squint against the tiny bit of sun that's peeking through the gray sky and manage to prop myself up on my elbows to look around.

"You're okay." I hear someone sigh. I look behind me with a start, but it's just Cato. "How are you?"

"How long have I been out?" I ask him, ignoring his question.

"Not long. Maybe a half hour. I'm not exactly sure." He then gestures to my shirt, which has a large red stain on the side. "I used my shirt to make a sort of tourniquet thing…I hope it helped. I was afraid you'd lost too much blood."

I hadn't noticed that he was shirtless until now. "What about you? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." He says, but his battered torso says otherwise. It's practically coated in a thin layer of blood, and his muscular biceps are cut up badly.

I give him a pitying glance. "You don't look fine."

He sighs and stands up, walking into the water. When he comes out the layer of blood is gone. "Better?" he asks.

But I wince and shake my head. "Worse." I can now see the long, ugly red gash that's marring his chest. I stand up, expecting it to be extremely difficult on my feet, but it's actually not too bad. I walk into the water with him and look closer at the scar. "What happened?"

"I was sort of shoved out the door because I couldn't find it. When I was pushed I hit the side, and there was a bunch of metal shards from the explosion. One of them cut me. That's all."

I frown and sigh. "Who do you think hit us?"

"Twelve." He spits. "Who else? And if it wasn't her or her boyfriend that actually did the bombing, I bet you a million dollars that they were behind it."

I bite my lip. "I don't think Katniss wants us dead." I look up and see Cato looking at me like I'm insane. "I mean, I'm sure she does, but she doesn't want to kill us."

"And why the hell would you think that?" he asks, bending over to splash water along his arms, which are still bloody.

"Well, when Finnick was about to kill me, Katniss—"

"Wait, wait, wait." Cato holds up a hand to stop me from talking. "Finnick? As in Finnick Odair?"

I nod slowly.

"When did _Finnick Odair_ almost kill you? And why didn't I know about this?" he's snarling now, and I can tell he's going to get worked up soon.

I narrow my eyes at him. "Don't act like it's my fault I almost got killed! It was thanks to you and your black hole of a stomach that I was sent searching in the bowels of District Four!"

Cato glares. "Are you accusing me?"

I put my arms up and look around dramatically. "Do you see anyone else around here, Cato? There's no one else I would be accusing right now!"

Cato laughs in a dry, humorless way and rolls his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. "That's ridiculous. Accusing me for something I wasn't even there for? That's fucking ridiculous, Clove, and you know it."

"Is it?" I ask him.

His jaw clenches and he stares me down, but from the corner of my eye I see his fist clench. "You know, Clove, you always have to start a problem, don't you?"

"You think _I_ started this? You're the one who got all pissy when I was just trying to tell you a story!"

"Well sorry if I'm a little pissed that I'm not told anything around here!"

"It's not like it concerned you!"

"Oh, yes it did! It concerns everyone, Clove. The rebels, the Capitol." He gets uncomfortably close to my face now and speaks through his teeth, "_Everyone_."

That's it. I hate it when people get in my face, and he knows it. I reach up and slap him. His face flushes with rage and he grabs my wrists tightly, so tightly it hurts, like when he grabbed hold of me when I visited him in his room after I had just woken up. Before all of this began, before we went through this war. When I still thought we were just going to be able to go home and get on with our lives.

"Cato, you're hurting me." I tell him.

He ignores me, of course. "You know what your problem is, Clove?" he asks me, still in my face. "You never know when to stop. You know just how to push everyone's buttons, and you take advantage of that." He chuckles cruelly and sneers in my face. "Stupid girl." He shoves me back, thankfully releasing my wrists. "You'll learn your place someday."

I glare at him. "I'll learn my place? What the hell is that supposed to mean, Cato?"

He doesn't seem intimidated, but perfectly amused. And he also doesn't feel the need to answer me, apparently. I step towards him again and shove him on the shoulder. "Cato!"

He startles me by taking hold of me again, his fingers digging into my shoulder blades. "It doesn't matter what I mean."

I glare at him. "I hate you like this, Cato." I spit at him. Might as well put it right out there.

Cato narrows his eyes back at me. "I don't care what you think. Because even if you hate me, you're not going to do a thing about it. Right?" I don't answer him, but then his grip tightens and moves up an inch, closer to my neck. "_Right_?" He shouts in my face.

"Let go of me." I tell him. When he doesn't budge, I reach into my pants pocket and take out a knife, pointing it to his throat before he can stop me. I press the tip into his skin. "Let. Go of me." I repeat. With one final glare, he releases my shoulders and folds his arms again.

"Well. Where do we go from here?" he asks. I'm not liking how sinister his voice is sounding, even if it's unintentional now.

I shake my head at him. "Where's Rae?"

He just shrugs carelessly.

"Did you see any sign of her? Or hear her?"

A silent shake of the head.

I sigh. Then I pick up a rock and throw it at him.

"Ow!" He complains, glaring at me. "What was that for?"

I glare at him. "You've got to be kidding me."

Cato looks at me blankly. I just sigh. "Come on. We should probably go into the city…what do you think happened to Enobaria?"

I've barely finished the sentence when a figure comes trudging over the hill to my left. After a few seconds of nervousness I realize that it's Enobaria, and she's mumbling curses. She's still soaking wet. She looks up and sees the two of us and sighs with relief. "Oh, good. You two are alive. And here. You have no fricken idea what I just went through. So I get my parachute, right? And I'm about to jump out when this dumbass pilot grabs on to me! He almost ran me into the fire for God's sake, I could've been dead! Damn, I swear, people these days…" she shakes her head. "No girl? Well, come on. We need to get to the hospital. Very quickly, because the chaos is moving there fast."

We follow her soundlessly over the beach for a while until the sand turns into grass and eventually the grass turns into pavement. The city is only about a mile away by this time. I see columns of smoke rising up into the air in the distance, and the noise is much louder by this time.

"Remember, we can't just go waltzing on in there like Mary Sue and her brother. We need to go around the perimeter of the city and get into the hospital from a back entrance, possibly even a window. Oh wait…I have an idea. Glimmer and Marvel are there and they're waiting for us. So's Brutus and everyone else. We need to move a little faster if possible, gimps."

We maintain a steady jog as we duck our way through the outskirts of the city, staying pressed against buildings or running behind manicured hedges. It doesn't take very long at all to get to the hospital, but we're out there long enough for me to take in the whole war scene. And I'm guessing that if it's this bad here on the outskirts, it's even worse in the center. And that's where the hospital is, of course.

Enobaria opens the lid to a sewage drain on a side street. "Get in." she gestures to us.

Cato starts to climb down the latter without hesitation, but he pauses at the bottom. "Smells like shit." He says.

"That's because it is shit." Enobaria informs him. "Now get down!"

I follow Cato down the ladder and Enobaria comes last, closing the lid back up afterwards. "Now, I would suggest that you stay on this sidewalk-like thing on the sides. Even though it's not much cleaner, at least we're not wading in sewage."

I try to breathe only out of my mouth as we tread lightly through the dark, disgustingly scented sewer. We have to jump across the river of shit a few times if we have to cross a street—the tunnels are exactly like the streets above. Just completely quiet—at least traffic wise. There's a loud, constant alarm going off in the streets above that echoes throughout the tunnel, bouncing off the damp walls and amplifying the sound.

"Okay." Enobaria says as the narrow tunnel opens up into a slightly larger dome. "We're here."

This time she climbs up the ladder first and Cato goes last. When I get out, I'm standing in a hallway with cement floors and walls to match. It doesn't look like there are any rooms. I know immediately, though, that we are back in the hospital. This area reminds me of the hallway I walked through when I paid a visit to Primrose Everdeen.

Enobaria leads us to an elevator which verifies my guess of us being in the hospital. She presses the "Lobby" button and we soar upward, the doors opening only seconds later. When we step out into the lobby, Brutus, Glimmer, and Marvel are all standing close to the doors, looking sort of impatient. There are a few other people there, too, all of whom I recognized from training put couldn't stick a name to.

Cato and I walk up to Glimmer and Marvel and greet them awkwardly. What are you really supposed to say when you abandon people?

"Katniss knows we're here," Glimmer blurts, "and she knows we're coming for her. They announced on the television that she's waiting for us."

Well, I guess that's what you say.

"We're not gonna go, are we?" I ask Brutus. "It's obviously a trap."

"We know." Brutus says. "We just need to take advantage of the fact that we know her location. We're getting as many people involved as we can to fight off the guards around her. And trust me, there' s a lot. I had no idea District Thirteen had this kind of technology stored away; it works almost as well as the Capitol equipment."

"So what are we going to do?" Marvel asks, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Hopefully, we're going to kill the Mockingjay."

**Hi everyone. :) Sorry it took a while to update again, but at least I'm not like SOMEONE *cough cough* UnofficiallyGlimmer *cough cough* and put off updating for three months and sixteen days. Horrible, right? I know. Well while I was writing this, I came to a sad realization…I think the next chapter may possibly be the last, if not one of the last. :( I'm kind of sad. But what do you say we make it past 100 reviews before the end? ;D**


	23. Explosive Children?

"You ready for this?"

I straighten out my jacket one final time, checking yet again to make sure all of my knives are accounted for. I exhale heavily, my breath making a cloud in the cool air. "Of course." I answer Cato, not entirely sure of myself.

He catches on to my hesitation right away. He always could. "Are you sure? We could wait another minute…." Although I appreciate his effort of sounding sincere, it's hard to get past how incredibly apparent it is that he's very anxious to get going. And honestly, I am too. I'm not going to let a little cold feet—and I mean that term literally and metaphorically—stop me from the moment I've been living for since the Hunger Games.

"No, no. I'm ready. They're waiting, anyway. We need to go now."

Cato nods and reaches a gloved hand to the small communicating device pinned to his bulky black jacket, pressing a red button on the side. Then, we straighten up from the crouching position we had been in. I strap on the covers of my fingerless gloves for warmth—the temperature has dropped dramatically in the past few days.

He starts forward but then stops before we come around the corner of the building and looks at me, concern etched into his features. "You look nervous."

I scowl at him. "I'm not _nervous_. Just…anxious."

Cato chuckles. "Anxious for you might as well be terrified. Come on, Clove, we can do this. Easy. You're the kid who took her brother's fish out of the tank and suffocated them when you were eight. You're the one who killed the first tribute of the Games. You—"

"Okay, okay, I get it." I cut him off, smiling ruefully. My brother was not very happy to come home and see his new fish lying dead on his dresser. What can I say? I thought they were ugly.

Another explosion sounds in the distance, jerking me into awareness. I need to be alert right now, not worrying like a weak little girl. Cato's right, I'm strong. And we can finish this war in a day. "We need to go." I say, my eyes meeting Cato's blue ones. He nods and lifts a finger, gesturing for me to follow him.

We stick close to the sides of buildings and try our best to avoid people, but it's not a big concern because we're in a fairly deserted part of town. It's much calmer than being closer to the heart of the city—well, not that it's ever calm. There are random explosions and fires and gunshots and the occasional people who have driven themselves to insanity that we're forced to stop and kill. Other than that, it's smooth sailing. We just have to be careful.

She's here somewhere. The Mockingjay. Fire Girl. Katniss. It gives me a weird feeling to think about her being in such a close proximity to me, even though I've been much closer to her before. But this feels final. Like a funeral, almost.

Before I know it we come to the house with the correct street address and we head up to the back door like we were instructed. Cato knocks three times and then the door creaks open, only a sliver at first, but then all the way. Landon is standing there. "Get in." he orders, practically dragging us into the house before slamming the door shut.

I had been hoping it would be a little warmer inside the house, but I guess these people found the time to turn off their heaters while fleeing their house. Anything that would save them money they'll take the risk for, I'd guess. Jackasses.

We're in a relatively large living room with orange carpet and hot pink and yellow furniture that almost hurts my eyes to look at. It's very clean, though, except for the floor by the windows which are all littered with glass. A cold breeze is sweeping into the room and making me shiver even more than I already was.

Cashmere, Gloss, Enobaria, and Brutus are seated on the couches and chairs and others are standing or sitting on tables and things of the like. There are thirteen of us in all, and a few minutes later there's another knock on the door and Landon lets Glimmer and Marvel in.

"Alright, that's fifteen." Landon says, rubbing his hands together. "We all went over the plan before. You all know what we're doing, correct?" He doesn't give us time to answer before going into a summary of the plan. "The other groups will be walking around, just keeping an eye out and fighting rebels, whereas we're going directly for the Mockingjay. When we find them, kill the people she's with first. Our chances of losing some of our people are a lot less high if she's on her own. We've been keeping watch on the Rebels, and they've got some good fighters. So don't rush into things, and don't underestimate them. Got it?"

We all nod and murmur our agreements. "So who gets her?" A guy with bright red hair leaning against the wall asks.

Landon looks around the room, as if silently asking if there are any takers.

"I do." I decide to speak up.

Another girl snorts. "Didn't you already get your chance and blow it, Dead Head?"

"Shut _up_, Sara!" I snarl at her, drawing a knife from my pocket. Sara is about twenty-four, but she's only as tall as me and a bit stocky. I've never liked her.

"Don't tell me what to do." She snarls back, walking towards me.

"Okay, people." Brutus steps in between the two of us, holding up his hands so all we can do is glare fiercely at each other from either side of his tall, muscle-y frame. Then his attention is directed to Landon. "Can we go now?"

"Yeah." Landon says, pulling on his coat. "Everyone get yourselves ready. If you're not prepared, or decide to have a panic attack or some crap, you either die or you're left behind. Simple as that."

Landon heads for the front door and people begin to follow. When Brutus lowers his hands and turns to go to the door, Sara lunges forward and shoves me.

"What the hell?" I bring my fist back and bunch her in the face. She grunts and glares at me, throwing a punch that I duck under. She throws another but someone catches her wrist.

I look up at Cato is glaring at her. Though she tries to hide it, the fear in Sara's eyes is apparent. I've seen it many times before. She yanks her arm away and huffs a sigh, then turns to follow everyone else out the door. I look up at Cato and thank him with my eyes, and he just smiles.

I hadn't realized exactly how much warmer the house was than the outside until we step out the front door. It's ridiculous how much the temperature has dropped in the past few days. It smells like snow, and I'm guessing we might be getting some soon if it's not too cold.

Behind me, Glimmer is complaining about the cold. At least I had the decency to keep it to myself. But Glimmer isn't one to keep anything to herself. Sara turns around and tells her to shut up after about a minute. Maybe she isn't all bad.

"Does anyone have a story to share?" one of the muscle-y boys that Cato had recruited when we went to the Capitol asks. "I'm bored as hell."

"That's stupid." Cashmere sneers.

"It's not like there's anything else to do, Cashmere." Enobaria glares at her. I knew even before all of this happened that Enobaria and Cashmere don't really get along well.

"I could think of plenty of things." Cashmere retorts coolly.

"Someone just tell a damn story!" Marvel groans before an argument can break out.

No one really replies until Cato speaks up. "I remember the first time I dismembered a family member." He says, smiling smugly and looking up at the sky as if recalling a memory. "December, I think it was. I was having drinks with my cousin, then I wrapped him in the Christmas lights, pushed him in the bathtub, and cut him up into pieces." He nods his head approvingly at his own story. "Good times."

"Cato, that's disgusting." Glimmer scowls from behind us.

Cato turns around so he can see her, walking backwards. "What? Why?"

"You cut him up into pieces? That's gross!'

"Well, not _exactly_." He says, rolling his eyes. "I just cut off his limbs. Not like little tiny pieces or anything."

Glimmer shudders and Cato turns back around so he's walking forward again.

"Why would you do that to your family member?"

"He was my cousin. No one liked him, plus his dad was from Twelve. Not to mention I was bored and he was annoying the hell out of me."

"How old were you?" Muscles asks.

"Sixteen, I think. Maybe fifteen…yeah, it was fifteen." He sighs. "Those were the days."

"You're messed up, Cato." Cashmere shakes her head.

"No, he's not." Landon speaks for the first time and turns around to smile at Cato. "He was meant to be a victor, that's all."

I must admit that I'm genuinely surprised when no one argues, snorts, or cracks a joke at Landon's statement. Maybe because everyone knows it's true. If it weren't for Katniss, Lover Boy would've died. And if I hadn't been interrupted at the feast, Katniss would've been dead.

That's when it hits me.

If I hadn't been so foolish at the feast, if I had been more careful…if I hadn't died, Cato wouldn't have died, either. If I would've just killed Katniss right away she never would've been able to take the medicine to Peeta, which would leave him for dead. I'm sure Cato still would have killed Thresh, if not me. We would catch Five. Then it would just be the two of us.

Who would've won, I wonder, between us? Although Cato's been my closest friend for as long as I can remember, I highly doubt that any of the "Oh, I love you!" shit would go down. No, it would've been a battle. I have more skill, but against Cato's brute force…would I have been able to take him? I shake the thought away because it doesn't matter anymore, and this whole possible scenario is giving me a headache.

The chaos begins to thicken considerably as we get closer to the heart of the city. Landon turns around to face us and we all stop walking. "If we get separated…" he trails off, clearly not sure of what to say. "Try calling on your communicuffs. I know most of you have them. And if you don't have one….Well, try to find another group or some sort of Capitol official. It can't be hard. There are actual soldiers everywhere, and there are air units hovering around. I'm sure you'll be fine."

By the time Landon gets to the end of his sentence he's almost yelling because of all the noise. He turns back around to begin walking when a huge tremor shakes the ground, causing everyone to stumble. Right behind Landon's foot a large booming sound cracks the ground, opening a scar in the pavement. A few people jump over before the crack becomes too large, and then we all crouch on the ground, hanging on for dear life.

After a minute or two the ground stops shaking, but the chaos above it continues. The large opening running down the center of the street for as long as I can see is much too big to jump across to. I stand up, squinting through the dust and debris to see Landon on the other side. He shouts to us over the screaming, "Try to go around!" I nod, not sure if he sees the motion or not.

With me on the other side are Marvel, Glimmer, muscle boy, and some victor whom I've never talked to before. He has dark skin and dark features with black hair. His build is tall and broad, and he looks a bit angry, but I think that's just his natural expression. "I'm Sinjin." He says in a gruff, low voice.

Muscle boy introduces himself as Cary.

"Isn't that a girl name?" I ask, hiding a smile.

Cary frowns and looks away. "It works both ways." He mumbles. "Come on, we should start looking for the Mockingjay. It's obvious that we're not going to be reunited with them any time soon. No point in wasting time." He starts walking at the head of our group and the rest of us follow.

He's very short. As we wrestle our way through the crowd I have to keep my eyes trained on the back of Cary's shaggy blond head or else I'd lose him. I think everyone was having the same problem because with a grunt Sinjin fights his way in front of Cary and takes the lead. It's much easier to keep track of him considering his tall height.

There are a _lot_ of people in the Capitol.

"Wait, stop!" Glimmer shouts at us. We all turn to look at her. "Look at that poor little girl!" she points to a girl standing in a gap in the crowd a few feet away. She's sobbing into her hands and squirming around like she's trying to get something off of her. She looks about five or six. And a little creepy.

"Who cares." I dismiss. "There are a ton of poor little girls."

"Clove, where's your maternal instinct?" Glimmer asks me in a scolding way.

Is she kidding? "I'm pretty sure I was born without that." I tell her honestly. If I ever have kids, they're on their own. Sorry, I don't need to waste my time picking up for them and crap. I'll feed them and train them. The rest of the time they can do whatever the hell they want.

"I want to see what's wrong with her."

"Glimma." Sinjin's accent apparently permits him from saying his e's, because he's also been calling Cary "Cara" this whole time. "We don't have time."

"It'll take two seconds."

"What are you planning on doing with her, Glim?" Marvel asks. "It's not like we're going to lug a kid around with us."

But Glimmer had already started to make her way toward the child, but we wait a good fifteen seconds before going after her. And she's only a few feet away. I prod her forward a bit with my hand.

"Don't push me!" she whines at me.

"Well then walk faster!"

"I can't, people keep walking in front of me!"

I sigh angrily and walk ahead of her, shoving my way through the crowd. "You have to be more abrasive. Just plow through. See what I'm doing? Just plowing through."

Glimmer frowns at me. "Shut up, Clove."

With Glimmer behind me, we reach the girl much quicker. Glimmer kneels in front of her, and the rest of us who couldn't care less about the kid hung back a little. "Hey," Glimmer says gently to the girl, "what's wrong?"

The girl then looks up, stopping her crying immediately. When she sees Glimmer's face, her eyes widen, and then light up. She smiles a little. "You really are back. You were my favorite; I thought you were the prettiest. I named my doll after you."

Glimmer looks like she's just won the Hunger Games. She grins. "Thank you! What's your—?" her sentence is cut off because the girl's expression turns chillingly serious. She reaches out and grips onto Glimmer's arms, holding on tightly. The girl is trembling. Glimmer frowns, trying to wriggle out of her grasp.

Cary steps forward and leans forward, as if listening to the girl. Then he straightens up, his expression horrified. He goes to the back of the girl and lifts up her shirt.

"Cary, what are you—?"

His eyes widen and then he dives forward to the side of the girl, wrapping an arm around Glimmer's waist and bringing him with her. He drags her off the ground and grabs hold of my wrist as he begins to sprint away, pulling me along. "Come on!" He begs. "We need to leave! She's—"

All of a sudden I'm blown forward, Cary's hand torn away from my wrist. I land hard on the gravel on my hands and knees, a few people falling against me. I quickly squirm away from them and manage to scramble to my feet.

Where the girl was sitting remains only chunks of metal, a small crater in the asphalt, and some bloody chunks all over the ground; I know what they are, but still I try to tell myself that they aren't what I think. Besides the girl, there are quite a few dead people, and the ones who aren't lying motionless are moaning helplessly, severely injured.

"Oh, God!" Glimmer puts a hand to her mouth, looking close to tears as she sits up on the ground, no doubt coming to the same realization I had just a second ago.

Cary walks forward, his face dirty and forlorn. He kicks a chunk of the metal. "Must have been the Capitol. We weren't supposed to be here." He shakes his head. "I saw the bomb. I guess I could've taken it off of her…." He shakes his head and looks at the rest of us. "We should keep moving."

I nod silently in agreement. Marvel helps Glimmer up. Sinjin looks forlorn, but then he pats Cary on the shoulder. "Good job, kid. We would have been dead if it weren't foh you."

Cary grins. "Ah, it was nothin'. Come on, let's go!" he's awfully lively. And he looks very…youthful.

"Cary, how old are you?" I ask him as we begin walking again. We're in the back of the crowd, with Sinjin leading and Glimmer and Marvel in the middle.

"Fourteen."

I frown. "Huh. You're very…" I search for the right word. "_Built_…for your age. For a Capitol boy your age, at least."

He grins cockily. "Thanks. Yeah, I'm not technically a Capitol boy." He sniffs and looks out at the demolished and now somewhat deserted area of the city. "I only moved here two years ago. I'm from Two."

I like this kid even better now. I grin at him. "Really? I guess it makes sense. You _are_ really short, though…and that doesn't even fit your age. It fits, like…an eleven-year-olds age."

"Shut up." He mumbles. "My parents are short. Blame genetics."

I laugh. "How'd you move here? Are your parents Victors?"

"My mom." He says. "I don't have a dad anymore. Well, I don't consider him one, at least. Never see him."

"Why not?"

"Clove," Glimmer turns around, "don't you think that's a bit intrusive? Maybe he doesn't want to talk about it."

"No, it's fine. I don't mind." He shrugs. "My mom almost killed him when she found out he was cheating on her. He was in the hospital for a full week. He kept trying to come around, so my mom moved us here." He says it as simply as one would say, "Yeah, my dog took a crap in the yard this morning."

Glimmer scowls. "District Two people…." She mumbles before turning back around.

I roll my eyes.

"She thought about moving to One first, but then didn't want to." Cary says, obviously attempting to irk Glimmer. "She said everyone there was incredibly vain and wimpy." This time both Marvel and Glimmer turn around to glare, and Cary just smirks at them. Can I adopt this kid as my little brother? Imagine that. A brother I actually like and that doesn't try to get me killed. Unthinkable, isn't it.

We walk around the city and talk like this for a while, only half looking. We all know that we're not going to find them here in this area, the area where bombs are going off. It's all sort of a hunky dory time until Marvel wonders aloud, "I wonder if they lost anyone on the other side." I don't know why, but when the fact that Cato could very likely be dead or injured right now hits me I feel a pain in my gut so strong it almost makes me stop walking. No, I know why. I care about Cato. Might as well admit it. We've been best friends since forever, why shouldn't I? But I tell myself it's a crazy idea to think that Cato might be dead. He's strong, an excellent fighter, and he's pretty street smart. So he's fine. He'll be fine.

"You okay, Clove?" Cary asks me, apparently noticing my concern. I wipe my expression clean instantly and manage to smile.

"Yeah." I tell him.

He nods and smiles at me. "Me too."

"Look!" Sinjin calls out suddenly. I look up and see the rest of the group walking toward us. Well, most of the group. Minus about three or four people it looks like. I'm incredibly relieved when I see Cato there. Cary calls out to them and we all meet up.

While Landon asks us for updates and Sinjin tells him of the mostly uneventful past hour or so, Cato comes up to me right away.

"Are you okay?" He must notice the scratches on my face and arms, the tears in my clothing from landing on the pavement. Well I would hope he notices, otherwise I'd be concerned about his vision. He doesn't look in much better shape than I do.

"Fine. You?"

"I'm okay. I was worried about you. We heard about that bomb girl."

"Yeah. It was kind of…weird. But I'm alright."

"You sure?"

"_Yes_, Cato!" I smile slightly. "What's with you? You're all of a sudden so protective."

He turns away. Is that embarrassment I detect? "I don't know."

"Maybe as Glimmer would say, it's your 'maternal instinct'!" I say in a bad impression of Glimmer's voice. She turns to glare at me.

"Most people aren't so heartless that they don't care about children blowing up, Clove!"

"Who said I didn't care about that?"

"Well did you?" Glimmer counters.

"Well…." Glimmer looks truly disappointed in me. I smile at her in return. They must've chosen that girl as a sacrifice for a reason; she was probably from one of the districts. I heard Brutus talking about how they took some people from the rebel districts to use as things like that.

"I'm glad we found you." Landon says. "There are only twelve of us now, so we need to be more careful. But I just got the signal that we have spotted that Lover Boy, and where he is I'm sure the Mockingjay is close by. Are we all ready?"

I lock eyes with Cato, then Glimmer (I cleverly avoid Marvel's), and finally Cary, who's smiling like a toddler in a candy store.

"Yep." I say. "I think we're ready."

**HEY GUYS. So I know I said this would probably be the last chapter. But as I was writing I realized it would be about pages long if I kept it all in one chapter. So I decided to split it in two. BUT NO WORRIES! Although I know you guys LOVE my super speedy and by speedy I mean slow updating skills (hee hees, I kid. You guys must hate me) you won't have to wait another month. I already have the next chapter written because I did this all at once so I could just finish it. So I will put it up tomorrow night for sure. :)**

** I hope I didn't lose any of you guys. Reviews are greatly appreciated to ease that worry. ;)**

** AND PROPS TO ANYONE WHO CAUGHT THAT POTTER REFERANCE IN THERE. Even more props if you can tell me what it was. :D**


	24. To Kill A Mockingjay

I open my eyes and feel flat, hard earth underneath me. I run my hands over the surface next to me. Dirt. I open my eyes slowly, feeling extremely groggy. I wince at the pain sitting up causes me. Putting a hand to my shoulder I feel a large bump, along with identical ones on my knee and ankle.

I now take time to look around my surroundings. Trees. A lake, in which I'm halfway immersed in. And finally I see the cornucopia about one hundred yards away. I hear a stirring in the water next to me and turn around. Marvel, who was laying unconscious, opens his eyes and sits up.

"That was horrible…tracker jackers…."

I frown. Tracker Jackers? I stand up slowly, my limbs heavy and stiff. Then I notice Cato sprawled out by the cornucopia.

Slowly the realization dawns on me. I had heard that the venom could have strange effects, give you strange dreams, but…it was all so real. So incredibly real. There's no way I could've dreamt all that, is there? I bring my hand to my right temple, tap it a few times. No pain. I hit it harder but there's no white spots that come to blind my vision.

"You okay there, Crazy Clove?" I turn to see Marvel smirking, an eyebrow raised. I scowl at him and warn him to shut his mouth.

It was all a dream. And a very strange one at that.

I guess the only thing left to do now is make sure that dream doesn't become a reality.

**JUST KIDDING! AUGUST FOOLS! :D :D :D :D :D :D Oh, I got you guys good there. Hehe, but seriously. I hate when stories end like that. Now, on with the real finale. :)**

* * *

"Everyone shut the hell up."

It had been another hour of uneventful walking and everyone was getting irritable. Everyone, it seemed, but Cary, who I don't think is capable of being anything but energetic. At least he's not annoying about it like Glimmer is.

"No one was talking, Landon." Cashmere argues.

"Whispering and talking are pretty much the same thing." Marvel says.

"Shut up, Marvel."

"Landon said be quiet!" Sinjin barks. Everyone silences.

I've found out more about both Sinjin and Cary. Sinjin's father was from District Eleven. He won the Hunger Games at eighteen, started a family at twenty, and chose to move the family to District Four. Their dark skin and low district status set them apart at first, but Sinjin proved to be such an amazing fighter that he was easily accepted. I knew most of Cary's background from before, but I've learned that he has an obsession with explosives. Fireworks, lighters, matches, bombs, guns, anything of the sort. He loves them.

"The war is like a dream come true!" He had said, a bit sarcastically.

"Shouldn't you be, like…medically examined for that?" Glimmer asked.

Cary glared at her. "No. It's not a problem. Should _you_ be medically examined for liking your reflection? No!"

"Hey!" Glimmer protested but the argument fell flat. Like most of the conflicts that have been rising. Probably because half of them are about the dumbest and most random crap I've ever had to listen to in my life. An argument forms out of every sentence.

"It smells like gas." Cary comments on the musky smell of the alley we're in. We've been making our way through the back ways behind warehouses. It's sort of like a hopeless maze, but Landon seems to know where he's going to we're just trying to trust him.

"No it doesn't." Marvel argues.

"It does to me."

"Well it doesn't to anyone else!"

"I think it smells kinda like gas." Cato chimes in.

"_Thank_ you!"

"You guys are dumbasses. It smells nothing like gas." Marvel scoffs.

"Cato just agreed with me that it smells like gas in here. That's two to one. You lose."

"Cato's the king dumbass." Marvel grumbles.

"He is a bit dim sometimes." Glimmer agrees. "Not the sharpest pencil in the box."

"I could see that." Cary agrees.

"Guys, what the hell?" Cato demands, reaching out to hit someone. And Cary is closest to him. I step in front of Cary.

"Don't hit him!" I protest.

"Why not?"

"Because…because he's my little friend!"

"_Little_?"

"Shut. The hell. Up!" Landon repeats, louder this time. His voice echoes off of the alley streets which are damp with snow that fell but never stuck. "You're all so immature. You're going to get us killed!" then he smiles slightly. "I was going to make a comment about my wondering how you all survived the Hunger Games. Then I remembered only five of you did." He snorts slightly.

"Not amused." I say flatly.

"I am!" Enobaria grins. "Hey, not my fault you guys fail at life."

"Shut up, Enobaria." Cato mutters. "It's your fault for being a sucky mentor."

"I was _not_ sucky! If anything, you were sucky tributes!"

"Sush!" I say. "Do you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Clove's going crazy." Cato rolls his eyes.

"Cato, shut up. If anyone here could be considered crazy, it would be you. Or maybe Cary." I say.

"Hey!" I hear Cary shout from somewhere. "I already told you, it's not a problem!"

"Why would _I _be the crazy one?" Cato counters.

"You're the one who ripped your hair out over a bin of food." I mumble tauntingly.

Cato grips my arm tightly. "Clove." He glares at me. "You know that's not…I don't…." then he just drops my arm and glares at me before walking ahead.

"You don't have to be such a jerk all the time!" I call after him. He doesn't answer.

I sigh and look up at the tall warehouse buildings rising above our heads. As my eyes sweep the roofs, I notice her. Katniss. My heart leaps into my throat, but I say nothing to alert her. I just keep sweeping my eyes right past her, as if I never saw she was there. She has her bow positioned at a fixed point. I need to figure out where….

No sooner than I finished that thought did I see an arrow fly through the air and stick itself into the corner of the building on our left, right by where Sinjin and Cato are walking about twenty feet in front of the rest of us. But she couldn't have missed; I know she shoots too well for that. So why would she shoot at the building if she knew it would just acknowledge us of her presence?

It seems like a lot of my thoughts are interrupted with bombs going off lately. And that's exactly what happens now. I'm blown backward, my feet knocked out from under me. It's like a horrible episode of déjà vu. Part of the outside wall of the warehouse blows to pieces, the debris flying into my face. I duck my face into the crook of my arm and that shields me from the worst of it. When everything finally stops falling I look up to the roof again.

Katniss is gone.

I stand up immediately and sprint around the fallen corner of the warehouse, looking down one alley and then another. Then I keep sprinting forward, looking frantically for her. I probably look insane. But at this point, I wouldn't be surprised if I actually am. Cato seems to believe it.

Then I stop dead in my tracks. Cato. He was right where Katniss shot.

I sprint right back to where I was, and everyone is sort of standing around awkwardly, looking around confusedly. I try to catch my breath and then notice Sinjin pull himself off the ground. I feel a little relief. If Sinjin survived, surely Cato would have, too. Sinjin squeezes his eyes shut as he props himself into a sitting position against what's left of the wall. Everyone watches. Cato stays unmoving.

I find myself running to him, kneeling next to him on the ground, touching his face. His eyes are closed. "Cato." I whisper desperately. "Cato!" I say, my voice cracking a little. His blue eyes open just a fraction to look at me.

"Clove." He half-whispers, half-croaks.

"Cato!" I say, but the large barrier of worry still blocks the flood of relief from washing through me. I'm still not sure if he's fine. "You're going to be okay. You'll make it. You're just shocked, that's all."

"Clove." He says my name again and winces. I can tell it's taking him great effort just to talk. "Look."

I frown at him, confused, and look down at his body. That's when I see the short metal pole skewered through his stomach. I look back up at his face, feeling tears pool in my eyes. I wipe them away, frustrated, but it's to no use.

"But…." I trail off, my breathing becoming shallow. "No. You'll be fine." I look up at Sinjin, who is sitting only a few feet away. "Right?" I ask him. Sinjin doesn't reply, just looks at me with a pitying expression on his face.

"You know better." He whispers to me. I already feel him slipping away.

"No." I tell him firmly, a tear slipping from my eye without permission. "You can't leave me, Cato."

"I don't want to, Clove." He whispers, his eyes closing again.

"No!" I cry, shaking him slightly. "Cato." I say feebly. "I…I can't lose you again."

"Win this for me." He says to me. My tears come freely now as he says the same words to me that I said to him when I was dying in the Games. "I'll miss you, Clove."

I can't even reply because I'm scared that if I open my mouth I'll start sobbing. I feel him go slack under my hands and can't prevent myself from losing it then. In my head, a cannon fires.

I collapse onto Cato's body, hugging him, my head on his chest as I sob. I don't even try to resist it now, even though I know I must look weak. But it hits me as I'm laying on Cato's corpse that now I truly have no one. Cato was my best friend, my only family. And now he's gone.

After a minute I feel someone's hand on my back and know that it's Glimmer's. I force myself to stop crying then and wipe my eyes. I'm not going to sit here and cry forever. I can do that later if I need; right now I have a war to win. I sit up and take a deep breath, looking at the space of ground between Sinjin's feet and Cato's body.

Glimmer stands up again and Landon puts his hand on my shoulder. "I'll have someone bring him back to Two." He says thickly. I nod slightly and then stand up, brushing off my knees. I still don't make eye contact with anyone. As I'm walking to rejoin my place beside Cary, Brutus catches me in a hug. I hug him back, burying my face into the dirty fabric of his shirt. I feel like I'm going to start crying again, though, being in his strong arms. I feel too safe. So I pull away a bit and he looks down at me.

"You okay, Clove?" he asks me quietly. I nod. I think it's the first time he hasn't called me by some ridiculous nickname. He pats me on the back and everyone starts walking. I wait for people to pass me so I can be in the back again, and when Glimmer and Marvel pass Glimmer wraps her thin arms around me.

"I'm so sorry, Clove." She whispers to me. I don't reply, but I'm surprised when Marvel says sorry as well. Maybe he's stopped being a jerk momentarily to feel sorry for me. But I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me. If anything they should be sorry about Cato.

It seems like hours rather than seconds for me to get to my place, and Cary looks up at me. He looks like a little kid, remorse in his eyes. "I'm really sorry, Clove." He says to me.

I sniff and shake my head. "Don't be." I look up at the sky and sigh. "I'm sorry you had to see me freak out like that."

Cary smiles slightly. "Clove. I would've freaked if that happened to someone I was close with. You don't need to be sorry. I would actually be a little worried if you _didn't_ freak out."

I manage a small smile at him, too, but it lasts only a second. "Thanks, Cary."

"No problem." He grins, but then as if realizing it was too happy of an emotion right now he wipes it off his face. We start to walk quicker now, splitting off into two groups. Glimmer, Marvel, Cary, Sinjin and I are one, just like before. We sneak around the corners of warehouses and look inside of them, too, weapons at the ready. But we find nothing. I feel anger coming over me, slowly overcoming the sadness, if only temporarily. I want to find her. Now. She needs to pay.

Eventually we move on from the warehouses to what looks like a school. There's a rusty, pathetic looking swing set next to a snow-dusted blacktop. In the distance are trees, their branches bare and dead.

"I think we should take a little break." Sinjin says. "Regroup."

Glimmer, Marvel, and Cary all agree. I just say, "I'm going for a walk."

I make my way to the small forest, twirling a knife between my fingers. A feeling of rage has settled over me, so strong that I can't even think. It's giving me a head ache. I walk a little quicker, wanting to get away as quick as possible.

I walk blindly through the trees until I can no longer see the swing set or anyone I came here with. I stop to lean against a tree, taking deep breaths and trying to get rid of my head ache. But my grinding my teeth with anger isn't making it any better. I keep walking when I hear a leaf crunch. I whirl around, seeing a girl there, she's about my age, maybe older. I can tell by the way she's dressed and her crazy make up that she's a Capitol citizen. Her eyes are wide.

"H-hi." She says. "Do you think you could help me? I—" my rage forces me forward before she can even finish the sentence and I drive my knife deep into her stomach. The girl gasps and clutches her stomach when I twist it and then pull the knife out. She falls to the ground, gasping and crying. I drop to my knees next to her and bring the knife over my head, stabbing her again. Then I repeat this, stabbing her again and again and again, continuing to do so even after I know she's dead. After what must've been the thirtieth stab at least, I pull my knife out of her stomach and drop it to the ground next to me, breathing heavily. I stare at the girl's dead body, blood oozing out of the wounds and gliding to the ground, making a large pool of crimson around us on the white ground.

I hear footsteps coming toward me but I don't move, just continue staring at the girl. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see the person kneel next to me in the pool of blood. It's Cary. He doesn't speak, only stares at the girl along with me.

As I'm kneeling there, I think. I think about everything that's happened to me in my life. "Cary," I say coolly, "are you scared of me?"

Cary looks at me, a frown on his face. "Well…not particularly, no. Why?"

"Cato wasn't." I say, the past tense bringing a burn to my eyes again. "A lot of people were. But Cato wasn't."

"Well, you're scary…but I'm not scared _of_ you."

"Why?"

He shrugs. "I don't know why. Seeing this girl here, it makes me think I should be, but I can't see myself reacting any differently than you in this situation. I'm being trained the same way you were. Trained to be a killer. How scared can you really be when you're taught how to kill people ever day?" His shoulders go up again. "I don't know. Do you want me to be scared of you?"

I'm about to reply when I feel a tear slip out again. "No. I don't want you to be." I wipe the few tears that are falling away, not wanting to start crying again. I don't cry. I never do.

Cary puts his hand on my shoulder. "I kind of see you as my sister, actually. Is that weird? I only talked to you a few times while we were still training."

I look at him. "It's not weird. You're like my little brother." I smile at him, and he smiles back. Then I stand up, noticing that from my knees down my pants are covered in blood, as well as my hands and a little on my arms. Then I walk away from Cary, and he doesn't follow.

As I walk, I cry. I don't sob, but I cry. Just a little, though. I don't want to start sobbing again. It's a horrible, foreign feeling to me—I haven't sobbed or even cried since I was a toddler, I think. Not since I was little.

Through the thick haze of my emotions and aimless walking I spot a break in the trees out of the corner of my eye. I slowly make my way towards the rest of everyone else. Everyone is back there, even Cary. My boots crunch on the snow-dusted gravel and cut through the silence like a knife.

Cary is sitting on the ground, letting snow run through his gloves. Sinjin stands next to him, watching. Glimmer is sitting on a swing, looking at the ground and swaying herself back and forth slightly. Marvel leans against the frozen pole next to her looking forlorn, his hands stuffed in his pockets. He looks up when I stop walking, when I'm standing just a few feet away from the two.

For a while no one says anything, but Marvel is holding my gaze with hollow eyes the whole time. Then, he says quietly, "I'm sorry."

I take a deep, shuddering breath and say nothing for a few seconds, knowing that if I speak right now I'll lose it again. So I compose myself before whispering, "Thanks." When I look down a tear that I hadn't known was there runs down my cold, dirt-covered face and I quickly wipe it away, but then more follow and they don't stop coming and eventually I just put my head in my hands, the hot tears soaking into my gloves. And then my shoulders start shaking and I know there's no point in trying to hide my weakness now, because it's proven to be to no avail.

All of a sudden I feel a pair of strong arms wrap around me, and for a foolish but hopeful second I think its Cato. But when I look up I see Marvel instead. I think I'm more shocked at this than I would be if it had been Cato come back to life. Again. But instead of hitting him or pushing him away like I normally would, I stand there in his embrace and actually appreciate it.

That's when we both hear the loud, tell-tale bang.

We both separate instantly and Marvel whips around just in time to see Glimmer turn rigid. A deep, disturbing shudder shakes her body. Her widened green eyes roll back in her head, and then she slips off the swing, collapsing to the ground face down, exposing the growing red stain in her side.

"Glimmer!" Marvel sprints the short distance to his girlfriend and carefully shifts her onto her back. Cary stands up immediately and Sinjin walks toward them, getting down on one knee and pressing a hand into the center of Glimmer's stomach. She cries out in pain and Marvel glares at Sinjin, hitting his hand away.

Sinjin sighs and looks calmly at Marvel. "I'm helping. Trust me." He then presses his hand to the left side of her stomach. Glimmer does nothing. "It's not fatal," Sinjin announces. "If we treat it she'll be fine. In pain, but alive. In the mean time, we need to get out of here."

I look around, drawing two knives. I tilt my head toward the school and Cary nods, drawing a small, thin gun from his belt. I look at it questioningly.

"They're darts." He says. "When they stick to their target, they blow up three seconds later." He grins. "Let's go!"

We both run to the entrance of the school doors and kick the doors open. We probably could've opened them, but who would want to belittle their badass quality with an entrance like that? The adrenaline is already making me feel better.

The school lights are off, but the light coming through the windows of the classrooms is enough light to see. Cary takes the left side and I take the right, slowly making our way down the hallway and searching each classroom. It's a very small school, with only one long hallway and rooms coming off of each side. That's all. I can see that it hasn't been used in a long time by the thick layer of dust covering every surface.

We both make it to the end of the hallway with nothing.

"This makes no sense." Cary whispers. "They couldn't have left; we would've seen or heard them. Even from outside."

"I know." I tell him. "Maybe we just didn't look hard enough."

Right as the words leave my lips I hear a small sound. A very small sound, but I still hear it. Like metal hitting the floor. I put a finger to my lips to shush Cary and slowly make my way to where the noise came from, just a few rooms down. I hold my knives out and Cary has his gun up as we slowly tip-toe to the classroom, making almost no sound at all.

When I turn into the room, I see him right away. Kneeling right next to the door, looking as if he was about to jump out at me but was too late.

I grin as I see him look up at me, masking the fear in his eyes. "Well, well, well. Look what we have here." I grin evilly at him as I hold a knife to his forehead. "What was your name again? Something like my grandmother's, I think. Oh yeah—Gale." I smile again. "How are you doing, Gale? Is life treating you well?"

He doesn't answer and then I feel the tip of a blade at the back of my head. I look out the corner of my eye and see none other than Johanna Mason is smiling next to me. But then her smile disappears just as mine did and I see Cary pointing his gun to her head. Luckily Johanna's kind of short, too, so he doesn't have to reach up too far.

"Well." Johanna says after an awkward moment of silence. "Where do we go from here?"

I hear the click of Carey's trigger. Johanna ducks, her knife pulling away from my head. The dart sails into the wall, sticking itself there. My eyes widen and I run to the other side of the room with Cary, diving under a desk.

The wall dissolves in a tiny explosion, but Gale is still alive. I see him clawing the floor, dragging himself away from the smoking wall. The world is a haze of smoke, the smell of the drywall and it's particles floating in the air making me lightheaded. I slash my knife blindly and then feel it come into contact with something, followed by a cry that had to have come by Johanna. I hear Cary call out my name and I look up. He's already by the door. I can see the silhouettes of everyone through the smoke, and Gale is right by my foot, looking about ready to pull me to the ground. I lean down and stab my knife through his hand and into the floor, making him scream. Then I leap over him, draw another knife, and join Cary.

We both sprint down the hall, Cary shooting darts behind him as we go. "To make sure they die!" He yells at me over the noise. I nod to show I understand. Together we burst out of the doors. Cary holds his gun to the sky, spinning around and searching for helicopters. I take out my own pistol as well, feeling that it might be quicker if needed.

"Do you see anyone? Is there anyone here?" I keep repeating.

Finally I hear Cary scream, "No!" And realize he must've had to say it a few times. We run away from the school, back to the swing set and collapse to the ground, panting heavily. We hold our guns in the direction of the school for a few minutes while we catch our breath, but neither of them come out.

"Where do you think they went?" Cary asks, obviously referring to Glimmer, Marvel, and Sinjin. I look around and sigh. "I don't know. Probably one of the warehouses. We should go quickly, just in case they come out. We don't want them knowing where we went."

Cary nods and we both get up and run back into the maze of warehouses. All of them are empty, so we both poke our heads into each one. When I try the handle of one a few buildings down, it's locked. I look through the small square window.

A blond head is standing in the doorway, facing away from me.

I know immediately that it's Lover Boy. And somehow I know that Fire Girl is in there, too.

"Hey, I found them!" Carey says from the warehouse a few down from mine.

"Shhh!" I shush him. Then I smile. "So did I."

He looks confused at first, but then seems to get it. He smiles as well. "Should I get the rest?"

"If they're ready. Just let me know it's you when you come in. Sooner would be better than later, it would be nice to have guards."

"Got it!" Carey says.

"Wait!" I say before he can go into his door. "Can you toss me your pack of matches?"

He smiles. "Sure. I have extras, anyway." He reaches into his pack and pulls a red package out, throwing them over to me.

"Thanks."

"Yep."

When Cary disappears into the metal door, I take out a match and scratch it against the side. It takes me a few times to get it lit, but I do it. I check one more time to make sure that Lover Boy hadn't moved, and then I move out of the way of the window.

I sigh and drop the match, the snow putting it out. What if there are other people in there? It's very likely. Maybe I should get Sinjin. But they could leave while I go. I strike another match and tell myself not to be a baby. Then I hold the fire up to the metal door handle, knowing that Lover Boy's hand is on the other side. Just as the match is almost burned out the heat reaches the other side, and Lover boy jumps out of the way, shaking his hand. I get my knife out.

Like I predicted to happen, he opens the door.

I kick his stomach and he stumbles backwards. Then I step through the threshold and close the door behind me, locking it. I quickly grab Peeta again and hold a knife to his throat, looking around the room to find it empty. Except for Katniss.

She's standing across the room, bow at ready, looking furious but a little scared. I do one last sweep of the room to make sure there's no one else in here, even though I'm certain there isn't. It's one huge, empty building with no floors or rooms or anything. Not one piece of furniture or trash or anything. Completely empty, accept for the District Twelve tributes.

I smile at Katniss.

"Please." She says. That's all.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill him." I ask tauntingly.

Katniss looks close to tears. Good. "I…."

I raise my eyebrows. "No reason at all? Wow, it really _was_ an act. All of it."

Katniss looks angry. "It wasn't an act!"

I snort. "Please. You may have fooled the stupid Capitol citizens, and even your boyfriend—who I just left for dead a minute ago, by the way—but you didn't fool us. We knew the whole time."

She steps closer to me. "You don't scare me anymore, Clove."

I laugh dryly. "Liar. You're terrified. I can see it in your face."

Another step closer. "Let him go."

"No thanks."

She draws an arrow back.

I press the knife deeper into Peeta's neck. Blood starts to trickle from underneath the blade. She knows I'm going to kill him.

"Are you just gonna stand there and let him bleed it out?" I ask her.

Her bow lowers.

"Good." I congratulate her, smiling cruelly. "So. Should I kill him now, or let him watch you suffer?"

All of a sudden I feel a blow to my stomach that makes me double over. I realize that Peeta kicked me. My knife slips from its place at his neck and he quickly steps a few paces away from me. I look up at him and glare. He seems terrified, but he puts his arm around Katniss. I smile a bit when she shrugs out of his hold.

I straighten up. Katniss opens her mouth to say something but before she can, I nonchalantly flick a knife in Peeta's direction. It sticks in his stomach and he clutches the blade, his eyes widening. Katniss releases an arrow in my direction, but I see it coming and move out of the way. She kneels by Peeta's side, tearing up instantly.

I tune out their talking to each other and make my way to the two of them, standing next to Peeta and saying nothing. It takes him about three whole minutes to die. Katniss cries over his body for another minute before looking up at me. Then she stands so that we're face to face, Peeta's corpse the only thing separating us. She wipes her tears away and glares at me.

"Now you know how it feels." I tell her calmly.

First she looks outraged, but then almost remorseful. "What are you talking about?" she asks.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a horrible liar?" I roll my eyes. "You know what I'm talking about. I saw you on the roof. I saw you shoot the arrow." As I'm retelling the story I realize maybe I could try out another card. If I know one thing about Katniss, it's that she's actually a good person. Something I can honestly say I never have been or will be. Sympathy is in her nature. I may as well be honest. "He was all I had left, you know. The only thing I had close to family. I loved him like a brother…he was my best friend."

Her eyes flicker with sadness for a moment, as if she knows what I'm talking about. But then she glares again. "You tortured my sister. You killed _my_ best friend—you said it yourself a second ago. And now you just killed my boyfriend."

"He wasn't really your boyfriend." I say. "It's just us, District Twelve. You can be honest."

Her face fills with rage and then she slaps me in the face. I gasp and then glare at her. Then I tackle her to the ground and kneel on her shoulders. She struggles, but just like before, it's hopeless. "Shall we finish where we left off?" I ask rhetorically, pulling a knife out of my pocket.

Just as I'm about to cut her lips, the door opens. I jump, but then sigh with relief as I see it's just Sinjin and the others.

"Lock the door behind you." I instruct them. Marvel does since he's the last one in.

"Well, I see you don't need any help." Sinjin says.

"Oh, yes she does." Marvel says, a bloodthirsty glare coming over his face when he sees Katniss. He walks toward the two of us determinedly. "Get off of her, Clove." I sigh, but decide that since our relationship is somewhat repaired that he can have a little fun with Katniss as well. I stand up when he gets close. Marvel kicks Katniss hard in the side and I hear a crack. Katniss yelps. It must've been a rib. Then he bends down so his face is inches from hers.

"You think you can kill me and get away with it, Fire Bitch?" he spits in her face. Then a sinister laugh escapes his lips. "I don't think so." He takes out a pocket knife and slashes her across the face, leaving a long, bleeding cut on her cheek.

"Hey!" I protest. "Leave the knives to me, please."

Marvel looks up and narrows his eyes at me. "Fine." He says. Then he picks Katniss up by her jacket and holds her up so they're face to face again. He glares into her eyes for a moment before saying, "I hate you." Then he drops her to the ground, Katniss crying out in pain when she hits the cement floor. He nudges her with his foot with such disgust as if she's a dead animal on the side of the road. "Filthy District Twelve scum." He spits on her before looking up at me.

"She's all yours."

I smile and take my place atop Katniss again. She doesn't struggle. "What, you're not even going to put up a fight?" I scoff. "Some Mockingjay you are."

I then pick up exactly where I had left off in the Hunger Games, carrying out with my original plan. Glimmer is sleeping from the pills she took for her side, and I'm almost sorry that I did this without her being awake, but I couldn't wait any longer. It feels so good to know that we've finally been avenged. That Cato is avenged. That we're finally getting our revenge.

When I'm almost through with Katniss and she's at the point where she can't scream anymore, can't even utter a single sound, and is just a trembling, bloody mess beneath me, Sinjin speaks. "Landon just sent me two beeps." He announces.

"What does that mean?" Cary asks, tearing his eyes away from Katniss and me.

"Weren't you listening, Cara?" Sinjin scolds him. "It means that we're winning. We've almost won. If there were three, it would mean that the Mockingjay is gone."

I look down at what's left of Katniss underneath me. "Send him three beeps." I tell Sinjin.

"Right now?"

I nod. "Right now." Then I take my knife and stab it deep into Katniss's chest in a spot I know will kill her. She doesn't move—she _can't_ move—but I know she's dead, anyway. I stand up and look down at her mangled body, admiring my work. It's almost a bit repulsive, even for me, but it make me more proud than disgusted.

"The Mockingjay is dead."

* * *

**THE END! :,)**

**So this is going to be a long author's note, but please read all of it. :)**

**First of all, I'd like to thank all of you who have favorited, followed, and reviewed my story. It really means a lot to me. Thank you for dealing with my late updates and sometimes ridiculous chapters, you know the ones I'm talking about. As I told you, when I write at three in the morning I get a bit delirious. ;)**

**I really hope you all liked the last chapter and were happy with the ending. How 'bout the chapter title, eh? I felt pretty clever with that one. ;) I must admit, I was sort of teary eyed when Cato died. I didn't want him to go, but every good book ends with **_**someone**_** dying, right? Well, it was hard for me. And it took me about four hours to write this chapter, it's the longest I've ever written. 13 pages, 5,949 words. But it was worth it. I hope. **

**There will be an epilogue, and when it's put up depends on you guys. The more reviews I get, the quicker it will be up. Oh yes, I'm using you guys. :) For those of you following my SYOT story, I'm sorry that I kinda stopped writing for that. I just wanted to finish this first. I'm going to continue writing for that soon. **

**I start school on Wednesday—I'm going into high school! I'm a little scared. And reviews make me happy. So…just make me happy, please. :D Well, again, thank you all SO much. I'm going to miss writing for this story. I LOVE YOU GUYS! :,)**


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